Rabat – Morocco’s new government will include 30 ministers drawn from the six parties of the coalition, Head of Government Saad Eddine Othmani told Justice and Development Party (PJD) members this weekend.
Unlike the former government, which included a total of 39 ministers, the new government will regroup some departments under one ministry and abolish delegate ministers, except for the Ministry of Interior.
Othmani, who announced the end of nearly six months of political deadlock on Saturday evening, will also restore the position of State Secretary in the new government.
Following his appointment as Head of Government succeeding his partisan colleague Abdelilah Benkirne, Othmani brought together a coalition government of six parties in a duration of nine days.
In addition to the PJD, the coalition includes the National Rally of Independents (RNI), the Popular Movement (MP), the Constitutional Union (UC), the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS) and the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP).
The USFP, led by Idriss Lachgar, had previously been ruled out by Benkirane, who publically vowed that he would not include the USFP among the parties that will lead the government over the next five years.
The inclusion of six parties in one coalition government has outraged some Moroccan citizens, who took to social media to express their dismay that many parties in the coalition might actually represent the opposition.
The six parties included in the coalition government represent 240 seats out of 395 in the parliament.
According to Morocco’s elections, the winner of the legislative elections should exceed 197 seats, namely the half of 395 to secure the absolute majority. Otherwise, it can ally with other parties to form a coalition government.
