Rabat’s political clock is ticking faster. Fatima Zahra Mansouri, tasked by the King with forming Morocco’s next government, has made her choice: the coalition will be built around the historic Democratic Bloc parties, not with Mohamed Ouzine’s Popular Movement.
According to sources close to the negotiations, the shape of the incoming majority has been taking form for several days. It would bring together the Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM), Istiqlal, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) and the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS). The lineup confirms a shift that began last week, when the USFP mandated its secretary-general, Driss Lachgar, to negotiate the terms of its entry into government.
For the Popular Movement, the development stings. Long seen as an indispensable partner in outgoing coalitions, Ouzine’s party now finds itself sidelined from the talks, barring an eleventh-hour reversal that few in Rabat seriously expect.
The negotiations, conducted quietly, are said to be nearing their conclusion. Informed sources say the official announcement of the government’s composition, along with the presentation of its program to Parliament, is now a matter of hours rather than days.
The reshuffling illustrates the delicate balancing act behind every Moroccan government’s formation: weighing the electoral strength parties won in the last legislative vote, managing long-standing rivalries and alliances between them, and giving the new executive enough coherence to carry out the reforms outlined in the King’s speech opening the parliamentary session.
What remains unclear is how the Popular Movement, with its strong rural base and sizable parliamentary group, will respond to being left out. The coming hours should show whether the door has closed on Ouzine’s party for good, or whether last-minute maneuvering could still reshuffle the deck before the official announcement.
