Rabat – Lahbib El Malki has been elected the leader of the House of Representatives after winning 198 votes confirming the position to his name, according to an announcement by Abdelouahed Radi, the president of the Interim Office of the House of Representatives.
A total of 137 lawmakers submitted blank votes, while seven others abstained from the vote altogether.
The blank votes, which counted against the politician from the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), came from all 125 representatives from the ruling Justice and Development Party (PJD) and the 12 lawmakers from the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS).
The fledgling government coalition’s strategy reflects the unclear status of who’s in or out of the PJD-led regime. Over three months after the October 7th elections, and the government formation process continues.
The two politicians from the Federation of the Democratic Left abstained from the vote, along with five others from different parties who defected from their politburo’s respective decisions.
The Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) – the Islamist PJD’s main rival – supported Lahbib El Malki, as did National Rally of Independents and the Constitutional Union. Together, the opposition parties gave him the majority needed to secure the position.
Over the next two days, the new House of Representatives will vote to elect members to positions that remain in the governing body’s leadership structure, including the Vice President and the heads of standing committees.
The parliament then needs to pass bills and amendments related to Morocco’s reentry into the African Union, for which King Mohammed VI has been preparing since the second half of 2016.
