Akhannouch and Laenser to Benkirane: We Won’t join a Government That includes Chabat

Rabat  – During their Thursday evening meeting with Morocco’s appointed Head of Government Abdelilah Benkirane, Aziz Akhannouch, Secretary General of the National Rally of Independents Party (RNI) Mohand Laenser, Popular Movement (MP) Secretary-General, asserted that they will not join a coalition government which includes Istiqlal Party’s (IP) Secretary General, Hamid Chabbat.

Following Chabbat’s controversial statement against Mauritania, both party leaders said that “they cannot participate in a government with Chabbat due to the negative repercussions of Chabbat’s statement,” in which he asserted that “Mauritania lays on Moroccan soil and it is a land that is purely Moroccan.”

Amid the ongoing deliberations of Benkirane to form a new government, Akhannouch told journalists that “their meeting with Benkirane was positive.”

“During the meeting, we raised a number of problems, including what happened last week [Chabbat’s statement against Mauritania] and the counterattack against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Akhannouch continued. “This may lead to a lack of trust with some parties [but] we need a harmonious government.”

“We tried to persuade Benkirane to change his opinion. He now has a deadline to think about whether to exclude the IP or not,” Akhannouch added.

Since his appointment as Head of Government on October 10^th, Benkirane’s deliberations with Akhannouch have not yet met with any success.

The IP’s participation in the government is still one of the main stumbling blocks which have delayed the formation of the coalition government and led to what has become known in Morocco as the “governmental blockage.”

Akhannouch maintains that he will not join the coalition government until Benkirane excludes Chabbat. In response to this ultimatum, Benkirane has rejected Akhannouch’s plea and is upholding his decision to include Chabbat and Akhannouch in the same coalition government.