The year of the parties' conferences in Morocco will not end until the concerned powers settle some organizational, political, and democratic problems., the latest being the fact that the developments that brought the Islamic Justice and Development party to power have shaken the monotonous partisan scene. After the classification of opposition vs. pro government forces used to define the ceiling, tools, and context of the conflict, it is now clear that the country is on its way to come up with a bipolar system with different standards. The country is subjected to the Street's aspirations, which are defining the political framework and distributing parts. In this sense, the image of all the different poles - including the rightists, the leftists and the moderates – no longer relies on what the political scene should look like; it is rather affected by, and it reacts to the electoral instincts that flipped many equations over. As it proceeds to hold its ninth conference, the Justice and Development party is no longer nurturing the dream of power as a kind of poetic illusion. Currently, the party is mostly worried about the way to preserve its new situation as a ruling party without breaking the rules that allowed it to access its leadership position and without paying the price for this change by losing people's respect. This is not about a moral issue but rather about political practices. The brightest example on how to differentiate between the desire to do something and the actual ability to do so, is that the official spokesperson to the rotation cabinet stated that the opposition has crossed deserts in order to access power and that it will not be leaving before the elapse of at least four decades. Interestingly, former Minister, Khaled Aleiwa, who reportedly made the above statement, is now in prison. In politics, one cannot get all what one wishes for. Preserving people's respect is one of the parties' main concerns. Any mistake could lead to shaking the good intentions or to an ill judgment. This was the case when the companions of former Prime Minister, Abdel Rahman al-Yousifi, were united as they launched their conference; but were divided by the time it ended. This was the beginning of a crisis that affected the Socialist Party, which is still caught in a tunnel that it wants to leave by joining the Opposition. Despite its long history, Al-Istiqlal Party, which used to be a model of discipline and harmony, failed to overcome the conflict of power that broke recently during its last conference. The shrapnel of this conflict are still active between the different wings and sides. This means that the party has lost control over the process of gaining the nation's trust. The crisis of the Socialist Union started as a syndical problem that later on developed into a major political one. Similarly, the General Labor Union's joining of the Al-Istiqlal power battle will not go by without some repercussions. The ailments that hit the most powerful parties in Morocco did not benefit the regime, which, during the times of political and social difficulties, had worked on gaining the opposition's support. These ailments rather benefitted the Islamic Justice and Development party, which knew how to make a link between the sparkle of the opposition and the aspirations for testing the Islamists in power. In doing so, the party benefitted from the atmosphere of the Arab Spring even though it did not take part in the street battles. The party's conference is of a special importance, because it broke the closed doors at the right time, when the supporters and even the opponents of the Islamists were so bored with the experience of the rotation to the extent that they rebelled against the monotony and started seeking new answers for the questions at hand. And since the democratic solution was not the object of any conflicts, its pros and cons were naturally accepted altogether. However, the Justice and Development party did not change its identity; it rather changed its position. Between the two conferences, the country changed just like the seasons did. Thus, the political figures had to cope with the changes that appeared or those that are about to appear whether they would bring about earthquakes and volcanoes, or benefits and wealth. The partisan conferences are nothing more than opportunities at testing the firmness of the channel carrying the ideas and initiatives between the elites and the bases. These conferences represent opportunities at gaining an experience in partisan democracy. Some of them are achieving a smooth transfer while some others are facing difficulties. The problem is that some parties do learn from their mistakes while others would not let go of theirs. On a positive note, the parties' conferences are no longer a mere leisure trip. They rather represent now a keenness on imposing accountability. The Justice and Development party can turn its political victory into a factor that supports a partisan life that is viable and prone to development under the slogan of openness.
