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Biography
Malek Boutih (French pronunciation: [malɛk buˈti]) (born 27 October 1964) is a French politician. His parents were immigrants from Algeria. Since 2003, he has been the national secretary of the Socialist party in charge of social issues (secrétaire national chargé des questions de société).
Malek Boutih discovered politics during his law studies at the University of Nanterre. He joined SOS Racisme, a civil rights organisation with close ties to the Socialist party, in 1984 and served as its vice-president from 1985 to 1992. He was the president of SOS Racisme from 1999 to 2003. A strong critic of the MRAP, a rival anti-racist organization, Boutih was condemned in 2006 for libel against it.
He has been an adherent of the Socialist Party since 1986 and joined its direction during the Congress of Dijon in the spring of 2003. As secretary national in charge of social issues, he is in charge of issues such as immigration, AIDS, and drug addiction.
Close to Julien Dray, a former member of SOS Racisme, he supported Ségolène Royal during the campaign for Socialist investiture in 2006, and ran as a candidate in the 4th district of Charente for the 2007 legislative elections. He collected 15.65% of the votes (9.54% of the registered voters) and was therefore not qualified for the second round.