Rabat – Nabila Rmili made history and headlines in September when she was elected as the mayor of Casablanca, with many celebrating the election of an accomplished female leader to lead Morocco’s largest city and economic capital. 

Most recently, however, Rmili’s appointment to the Ministry of Health and Social Protection seems to have muddied the waters.  At the dawn of a beautiful political career for Nabila Rmili, many critics have taken to social media to urge the 47-year-old politician to choose between her two offices. 

Who is she?

Born in Casablanca in 1974, Dr. Nabila Rmili obtained a PhD in general medicine at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of Casablanca. She quickly climbed the social and professional ladder to become Chief Medical Officer of Youth Health at the Prefecture of Casa-Anfa in 2006. 

Between 2010 and 2017, Rmili held positions as a ministerial delegate in district prefectures, then became regional director of health in Casablanca in 2017. As a senior member of the National Rally of Independents (RNI), the winner of Morocco’s latest general elections, she was first vice-president of the Casablanca City Council in charge of health under Abdelaziz El Omari. 

In 2021, she was elected to the presidency of the Casablanca City Council and became the first woman to hold this position. Since October 7, 2021, Dr. Rmili is one of the seven women appointed in the new government of Akhannouch. She is the Minister of Health and Social Protection and thus holds two positions. 

The issue

Being both a government cabinet member and the mayor of Morocco’s largest and most economically dynamic city, the responsibilities and commitments of Dr. Rmili are no mean feat. As it happens, some citizens and Morocco watchers have raised questions as to her ability to manage two sites of such high importance. 

As the Minister of Health in the new government, Rmili will have to fight two high-priority and equally challenging battles: managing – and eventually eradicating – the COVID crisis and overseeing the efficient implementation of the ambitious plan to expand Morocco’s social security system. 

Meanwhile, as the mayor of Casablanca, Rmili’s major challenge will be the regulation of traffic and construction sites. But she will also be regularly called upon, as is the case for local authorities in any big and thriving metropolis around the world, to address the most socially and economically salient issues in the everyday life of “Casaouis,” whose expectations are understandably very high. 

Constitution du nouveau gouvernement : La nouvelle Maire de Casablanca, nommée ministre de la Santé. Félicitations mais est-il humainement possible de gérer ces deux postes d’envergure?
(valable pour d’autres cas de cumul de fonctions)

— Mouna Hachim (@mounahachim) October 7, 2021

But Rmili’s appointment to the ministry of health raises another, more pertinent  observation: Given her recent dismissal from the position of regional health delegate in the midst of a health crisis for having badly managed the situation, it is somewhat surprising to see her return to the head of the ministry. 

تصور أن وزيرة الصحة حصلت على الدكتوراه في 2000، واشتغلت بعدها 3 سنوات فقط طبيبة عامة بوزان، ثم مباشرة مديرة إقليمية للصحة بعمالة بن مسيك، ثم عمالة انفا، ثم مديرة جهوية لكازا، ثم وزيرة. رغم ادائها الكارثي، وقبل أن تكون عمدة كازا، كانت نائبة العمدة السابق، وكانت الأكثر تغيبا.ر

— El Bekkari Khalid (@BekkariKhalid) October 10, 2021

On social media, many voices have been calling on Rmili to make a choice; some have even launched a petition demanding that she resign from one of her two positions. 

Genuine concern or sexism? 

As they come with invocations of the formidable and draining challenges of effectively sailing two high-priority and equally important public offices, calls on Rmili to “make a choice” can be said to come from a place of genuine concern for effective public administration.

But given that Rmili is hardly the first or only high-ranking public official to occupy two senior and highly important positions, her supporters can also be pardoned to argue that calls for Rmili’s resignation smack of sexism.

In addition to being the Head of Government, for instance, Aziz Akhannouch is also the mayor of the city of Agadir. Chakib Benmoussa, Morocco’s current ambassador to France, is also the country’s new Minister of National Education, Extracurricular Activities and Sports. The new Minister of Budget and Planning, Fouzi Lekjaa, is also the current President of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation. 

Where the sexism accusation loses some weight, however, is that the new Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning, Housing and Urban Policy, Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, is also the mayor of Marrakech. 

But none of this seems to answer the initial question: Why call out Nabila Rmili when others, including the Head of Government, are in the exact same spot as her?

More to the point, maybe the discussion should be focusing on the fact that the electoral reform approved in February 2021 is not sufficiently restrictive about when or whether the same person can hold two senior public offices. 

The current regulation is that while the same person can hold two different ministerial positions, the same should not be true or doable for  accumulating the functions of ministers, mayors or regional presidents with a parliamentary mandate. 

In other words, only a legislative mandate – a seat in the House of Representatives or the House of Councilors – is incompatible with the holding of another office.  

Targeting an evidently successful and highly regarded Nabila Rmili with vitriolic social media comments is not helpful and only adds more toxicity to the discussion of a very important issue. 

As such, perhaps more genuinely concerned citizens or critics could do better to shift their focus to the most essential debate to have about restricting any kind of accumulation of mandates or offices.  Which means the question should not be whether Rmili can be efficient in both her offices; it should rather be: Should anyone be allowed to hold two public offices – or mandates – at the same time?