Morocco's Prime Minister-designate Aziz Akhannouch announced on Wednesday the three biggest winners of this month’s parliamentary election, the liberal RNI and PAM parties and the conservative Istiqlal, joined forces to create a new cabinet.
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI on September 10 asked Akhannouch, the leader of RNI, to form a new government after his party came first in the election, taking 102 of the 395 seats in parliament.
The new interim prime minister of Morocco, Aziz Akhannouch, is a controversial figure, a man so divisive that many predicted the end of his political career in 2018 https://t.co/MCahHoQDqN
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) September 15, 2021
The three parties would together command a comfortable majority, holding 270 seats compared to the 198 needed to pass legislation.
Before he can announce the cabinet line-up, Akhannouch must clear it with the king, who has the ultimate say on all major issues.
Akhannouch said all three parties shared a common platform in focusing on economic and social reforms.
The moderate Islamist PJD party, which had been the largest in the previous two elections and whose leader had served as prime minister since 2011, crashed to a heavy defeat and said it would join the opposition together with leftist parties.
#Morocco: New coalition government in place: Led by prime minister Aziz Akhannouch the parties RNI, PAM and Istiqlal will form the new Moroccan government. https://t.co/RwA3dB48oN
— Bauke Baumann (@BaukeBaumann) September 22, 2021
Earlier last week, Akhannouch said he would cut ties with his family’s businesses, a move apparently aimed at heading off charges of mixing business with politics.
Akhannouch, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes at over $2 billion, served as agriculture and fisheries minister since 2017 in the previous government.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
