Maghreb members of the Network of Arab Liberals are scheduled to meet for two days beginning Saturday (November 22nd) in Marrakech to discuss current issues facing the region.

The new network was founded in July 2008 in Cairo by representatives of liberal movements throughout the Arab world in July, 2008. Mohamed Tamaldou, president of the network and member of the Moroccan Constitutional Union's political bureau, spoke recently with Magharebia about the group's upcoming meeting.

Magharebia: What is the purpose of this meeting?

Mohamed Tamaldou: This meeting is one of the activities planned by the executive bureau when it last met in Tunisia last month. It was decided to organise a number of activities. For example, last October, it organised a debate about the way that young people are boycotting politics. Participants suggested the creation of an organisation to bring together the youth wings of liberal parties in the Arab states.

This month, we’ll be holding another meeting to bring together the liberal political parties from the Maghreb.

Magharebia: What topics are on the agenda for your meeting?

Tamaldou: We will discuss the issues concerning the region. The region covered by the Arab states is made up of several areas, rather than just a single Arab area. Each part of the Arab states has its own distinctive geostrategic and historical aspects. We thought it is best to devote this meeting to topics affecting only the Maghreb region directly. For example, we will talk about the relationship between religion and politics, and the route liberalism should take if it is to find the ideal solution for installing democracy, but with respect for cultural, civilisation and Islamic values.

Another topic will be socioeconomic constraints in the Arab Maghreb countries, and the liberal parties’ vision for overcoming them – obviously within the context of the current changes taking place. Another aspect will look at freedom and how it can be used as a factor in development through practice and training, rather than seeing it as something frightening.

Before the meeting ends, we shall also hold an open-ended debate with a more international focus, dealing with the financial crisis and its effects on countries in the Arab Maghreb. Here we shall be identifying the connections between this crisis and the ideological standpoints, especially as there is currently some confusion and an attempt to portray the liberal vision as one of the causes of the current crisis.

So we want to discuss all these issues in an atmosphere of transparency and openness.

Magharebia: What is the precise nature of this meeting? Is it a debate about ideas, or an institutional meeting between parties?

Tamaldou: It's both a political and organisational meeting to discuss ideas because the participants are mainly political parties. There will be four political parties from Mauritania, who will be represented by their general secretaries. There will be the Tunisian Liberal Social Party, the Rally for Liberty and Democracy from Algeria, which will be attending with a large delegation and the Constitutional Union and Popular Movement parties from Morocco.

Magharebia: Will the issue of terrorism be present in the discussion?

Tamaldou: Certainly this concern is implied in all the issues we shall be discussing. Perhaps we have not spelt it out, but we can certainly when we look at the question of freedom, the question of the relationship between politics and religion, or even when dealing with the topic of socioeconomic constraints.

The Arab countries are seriously concerned about the spectre of terrorism because it strikes in all the regions where there is illiteracy, where there is a lack of democracy and where obscurantism has a strong presence. That's why we're working in this meeting to turn the spotlight on liberal thinking and human values which can set people free and make them more responsible for their lives and those close to them within a context of greater openness and protection for humanity in general.

Magharebia: How do you evaluate the co-operation among countries in the region?

Tamaldou: We think it’s shameful that there are still officials who think that closing borders between people can help to solve problems or benefit a given party. We’re in a world that can only evolve through openness. This means openness to ideas, to spiritual values and also to geographical areas. I think this problem will come up in one way or another when we meet in Marrakech. Because where partisan officials from the Maghreb meet, they will be keen to discuss problems that concern their countries. They will try to find solutions, even if only at the theoretical level, given that the real decisions remain in the hands of those who are in power. But we’re going to have a look at the problem and try to suggest some solutions.

This content was commissioned for Magharebia.com.