Rabat — Morocco’s incoming head of government, Fatima Zahra El Mansouri, pressed ahead on Wednesday with the delicate task of assembling a ruling coalition, holding a fresh round of talks with senior figures from her own party, the Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM).
The PAM delegation included Abdellatif Ouahbi, a former secretary-general and political bureau member, Ahmed Akhchichine, who heads the party’s training academy, and two other leadership figures, Fouzi Lekjaa and Mohamed El Mehdi Bensaid. Discussions reportedly focused on how ministerial portfolios might be shared out and on the broad lines of the governing program that will eventually be presented to parliament.
The PAM meeting came only hours after El Mansouri sat down with a delegation from the National Rally of Independents, the first party to be consulted as she works through a schedule that is expected to also bring her face to face with leaders of the Istiqlal party, the Justice and Development Party, and the Popular Movement in the coming days.
El Mansouri, previously the mayor of Marrakech and a government minister, became the first woman to lead Morocco’s executive branch after PAM emerged as the largest force in the September 23 legislative elections. Her appointment by King Mohammed VI was widely described at the time as a milestone for a country still working through the practical details of gender parity in top political office.
What is at stake now is less symbolic and more mechanical: stitching together a majority solid enough to pass the economic and social measures promised on the campaign trail, at a moment when many Moroccans are focused on the cost of living, job creation and the state of public services. Each new round of consultations is being read by political analysts as a signal of where the eventual balance of power inside the cabinet might land, even if no party has yet confirmed how many ministries it expects to secure.
A final government lineup is not expected before the remaining consultations run their course, likely over the next several weeks.
