Amid Growing Tension, Chabat to Hold Extraordinary Session for IP’s National Council

Rabat – Hamid Chabat, Secretary General of the Istiqlal Party (IP), has announced it will  hold an extraordinary session for the IP’s National Council on April 15. The action is in response to the executive board’s plea to reform the preparatory committee of the party’s 17^th congress.

It follows growing tension and discontent in the party. After anti-Chabat members, led by notable Sahrawi, Hamdi Ould Rachid, seized the headquarters of the party, convening a meeting without the presence of the party’s leader.

The extraordinary session is reportedly an attempt to bring down Chabat, who is thought to be responsible for the decline the party has experienced over the past few years.

The headquarters of the party across the country have become the new battleground between both camps.

Earlier this week, ten members of the affiliate of the party’s youth organization in Laayoun stormed the headquarters and organized a sit-in, calling for Hamid Chabat’s resignation. The occupation forced Chabat to move his office to the building of the General Union of Moroccan Workers (UGMT), the labour union affiliated with Istiqlal.

Chabat described the occupiers as “gangsters,” while Hamdi Ould Rachid denied any relationship with the demonstrators. As Moroccan media outlets reported, some Istiqlal members voiced their concerns over the current crisis, fearing that, by occupying the party headquarters, some are trying to push for a direct confrontation between Chabat’s followers and his adversaries.

Nizar Baraka, a possible successor to Chabat, is joining hands with other influential members and factions of the party in order to succeed. The on-going tensions raise questions about the future of Hamid Chabat. Many people think the countdown to his departure has already begun.