PREVIEW
PAM, which won the September election, must assemble a majority from a fragmented parliament, with the RNI likely to be left out
New Prime Minister Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri will open formal coalition talks on 5 October after being given a mandate by her Parti Authenticité et Modernité, though she alluded to internal party divisions after a ‘heated debate’ at the PAM’s National Council on Saturday (3 October).
El Mansouri, who was named as Morocco’s first female Prime Minister on 29 September, after the PAM won the 23 September elections with 97 out of 395 seats, held initial talks with a handful of parties last week (Dispatches 28/9/26, Centrist Parti Authenticité et Modernité wins election as turnout falls to 38%).
Initial reports suggest that the big losers in the new coalition-building process will be the Rassemblement National des Indépendants, who lost 36 seats and were beaten into second place by the PAM.
Nizar Baraka, the Secretary General of the nationalist party Istiqlal, told members of his party’s National Council who held their own meeting on Saturday, that he had received information indicating that PAM had decided against renewing a majority with the RNI. That would leave Baraka as the likely kingmaker in a new administration, potentially with Mouvement Populaire leader Mohamed Ouzzine, the current deputy speaker of the House of Representatives.
However, a deal with those two parties would still leave El Mansouri a handful of seats short of the 198 needed for a majority.
With the exception of the Islamist Parti de la Justice et du Développement and the Left Alliance, who have said they will stay in opposition, other party leaders, including the RNI’s Mohamed Chaouki, have indicated their willingness to hold talks with the PAM (AC Vol 67 No 17, Mohammed VI faces a turnout test).
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