Chabat Announces He Will Not Participate Coalition Government

Casablanca – Secretary-General of the independence Party (IP), Hamid Chabat, has announced that he will not participate in the next coalition government and affirmed his party’s determination to “block the detractors.”

During an exceptional meeting of the IP’s National Council on Saturday, where he was received warmly by his fellow partisans, Chabat officially announced that he would not take part “as a person” in the coalition government.

 “The IP is interested in its participation in the government, and not the participation of Chabat. When we called for a government amendment, I found myself in elected institutions. I announce from a personal perspective that I will not participate in the government to block the detractors,” stated Chabat.

Recently, Chabat had caused an uproar within Morocco and threatened to exacerbate the already strained relationship between Morocco and Mauritania when he declared, in a partisan meeting, that Mauritania “lies on Moroccan land.”

The statement and its resulting turmoil presented an opportunity for the newly elected Secretary-General of the National Rally of Independents (RNI), Aziz Akhannouch, and the Secretary General of the Popular Movement (MP) to reaffirm their refusal to participate in a government that includes the Independent Party.

During Saturday’s meeting of the IP’s National Council, Chabat asserted that, since his party had been invited to take its place in the coalition government by Head of Government, Abdelilah Benkirane, the man charged with the mission of forming the new government, the Independence Party has been subjected to a “fierce campaign” aimed at excluding it.

 Chabat also announced that his party has nominated three party leaders to continue the coalition government deliberations. These leaders include Bouomar Taghouan and Hamdi Ould Errachid.