It is with great sadness that the IPU has learned of the passing on 26 March 2023 of former IPU President, Mr. Abdelwahad Radi.
Mr. Radi was born in 1935 in Salé, Morocco. His political career started in his student days when he was an active and founding member of social, cultural and trade-union associations. He pursued an academic career as Professor of Social Psychology at Mohamed V University in Rabat before becoming the Head of Department of Philosophy, Sociology and Psychology.
In 1963, he was elected to the Moroccan House of Representatives. He was re-elected in all subsequent legislatures, including the current one. A former Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Radi was also Head of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USPF) and held government posts including Minister of International Cooperation and Minister of Justice.
He was President of the 107th IPU Assembly in Marrakech in 2002 and then continued to engage actively with the IPU as a member of the Executive Committee from 2004 to 2008. In 2011, at the 189th session of the IPU Governing Council in Bern, Switzerland, he was elected President of the IPU for a three-year mandate.