Driss Basri - Career

Career

Born in Settat, Morocco, Basri began his career as a police officer in Rabat. At the time of the "disappearance" of Socialist opponent Mehdi Ben Barka in 1965 in Paris, Driss Basri was head of the intelligence agency. Aged 24, he was following in parallel law studies, and graduated in the University of Grenoble in France. In 1973, he censored Mohamed Choukri's autobiography, For Bread Alone.

Basri was then appointed as Secretary of state for Interior Affairs in 1974, becoming Ahmed Dlimi's right-hand man. Basri became the iron fist of Hassan II during the Years of Lead.In 1979, Driss Basri was promoted to the post of Interior Minister in the government of Ahmed Osman, a post he held in all successive governments until 1999. Beginning in 1985, he held the post of Minister of Information as well. He won the confidence of King Hassan II, and during his time in office, the Ministry of Interior came to be known as the "mother of all ministries".

He was considered by his detractors as a hindrance to the democratization of Morocco in the 1980s and 1990s. He was accused of creating "administrative" parties to counter the traditional nationalist and popular parties, and of rigging elections in favor of loyalists. Under his term some demonstrations were harshly repressed by police as in 1981 in Casablanca and 1990 in Fes.