'Morocco's Islamists are ok: I met them!'

"...There are good reasons to think that Morocco’s Islamists are different. Unlike much of the Washington cognoscenti, I have actually met them. While they are not my cup of tea, over tea, they know how to talk like moderates. And they will be forced to govern that way.
Even with a massive majority, the Islamist party (known officially as the Party of Development and Justice and known universally by its initials in French, PGD) lacks a 50% majority to govern alone. It expects to go into coalition with the establishment Istiqal party (which favors the moderate-minded king) and several secular Socialist parties. Its coalition will fly apart if it tries to impose sharia, overturn the rights of women and Jews or ban alcohol, bikinis or interest payments...
The PGD is seen as uncorrupted by politics, largely because they have never had the power to trade political favors for money. The new constitution, adopted by referendum in July, vests complete control over domestic affairs to the national parliament and the new prime minister, who will be appointed from the PGD leadership. If they succumb to the world’s second-oldest temptation, they will lose their luster among their core voters.
That’s exactly what happened to Islamist parties in Muslim-majority Malaysia, where the Islamists won provincial elections and lost them at the next election when voters realized that they were just as human as other politicians. A similar pattern emerged in Iraq...
What about the PGD itself? I met the author of the PGD’s party platform on a sunny terrace near a swimming pool, just steps from the hotel bar. He didn’t seem the least perturbed, though he ordered tea. His name is Khalfi Mustapha and, in perfect American English, he explained that he learned about democracy while interning in the congressional office of Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.)...."