Marrakech – King Mohammed VI congratulated Ahmed Touizi on his election as president (speaker) of the House of Representatives, extending warm wishes for full success as the lawmaker takes up his new parliamentary duties.
Touizi, a member of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), won the post on Tuesday with 220 of the 369 votes cast. Driss El Azami El Idrissi of the Justice and Development Party (PJD) received 59 votes, while 90 ballots were declared void.
The vote took place under the supervision of provisional bureau president Abdelaziz Abba, in line with Article 62 of the Constitution and the chamber’s internal rules.
In his message, the sovereign voiced hope that the confidence placed in Touizi for this high constitutional post, together with his long parliamentary experience, would help him spare no effort alongside fellow deputies to raise the institution’s output and accelerate the pace of legislative and oversight work.
The monarch called on Touizi to keep the supreme interest of the nation and citizens above all other consideration, in keeping with the ethical responsibility tied to parliamentary practice. “We pray to the Almighty to guide your steps and crown your efforts and those of all members of the House,” the King wrote.
Touizi, who led the PAM group in the previous legislature, pledged to keep an equal distance between the majority and the opposition.
He told state-owned news agency MAP that he would give deputies the means to carry out their missions, in line with the royal orientations set out in the opening address of the 12th legislature. He described the responsibility before him as weighty and voiced hope of projecting a positive image of the chamber.
The new president framed the term as an exceptional one for the legislative institution. On the Western Sahara dossier, he called for mobilizing all diplomatic means to preserve and consolidate the kingdom’s gains, pointing to the momentum from UN Security Council Resolution 2797. He also pointed to parliamentary diplomacy as a lever to back official diplomacy and serve the country’s strategic interests.
Touizi’s election comes days after the shape of the next government became clear. On Monday, Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, named by the King as head of government under Article 47 after PAM topped the September 23 elections, announced a majority with the Istiqlal Party, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), and the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS).
The National Rally of Independents (RNI), which led the outgoing coalition for five years, was left out. The communiqué pointed only to an attentive reading of previous governmental experiences and said the coalition aimed to be strong and homogeneous.
El Mansouri becomes the first woman designated to head a Moroccan government, a step the coalition called unprecedented in the country’s democratic path. Its stated priorities are democratic consolidation, good governance, social justice, territorial equity, and a stronger productive base.
On Wednesday, the King received El Mansouri at the Royal Palace in Rabat, where she briefed him on the stages of the government’s formation. The monarch wished her success and noted that the next phase demands broad mobilization and serious, responsible government action, given the scale of the stakes and expectations ahead.
The royal cabinet described the audience as part of the King’s constitutional role in ensuring the proper functioning of the country’s institutions.
Read also: Who Is Ahmed Touizi, the New Speaker of Morocco’s House of Representatives?
