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Rabat – Abdeslam Bekkali, a member of the National Rally of Independents (RNI), has secured the position as the new mayor of the city of Fez.
Bekkali, who will succeed Driss Azami El Idrissi of the Justice and Development Party (PJD), was elected today by the Fez City Council with 60 votes out of a total of 91.
The new mayor also served as the 10th vice-president in the outgoing city council, and he also worked as the president of Fez’ Jnane El Ouard district between 2009 and 2015.
A doctor in the public sector, Bekkali also served as a health delegate in the provinces of Moulay Yaacoub and Sefrou, near Fez.
Before joining RNI during this year’s general elections held on September 8, the politician was a member of the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS).
RNI won 102 parliamentary seats in this year’s elections, making it the majority party at the House of Representatives.
With his election, Bekkali outperformed Hamid Chabat, the former Secretary-General of the Al Istiqlal (Independent) Party.
Chabat, who fell out of grace with the new Al Istiqlal leadership, joined the Front of Democratic Forces (FFD) to be able to run for mayor in Fez.
The decision to run in the communal elections came after his controversial return to the political scene after years of absence.
Having left Morocco after losing his position as SG of the Istiqlal (Independence) party, Chaba returned to Morocco in October 2020 after living in Turkey for more than three years.
The veteran politician made several controversial statements and positions that hurt his standing among MPs in his former party.
In 2016, for example, he claimed that Morocco’s borders extend from Ceuta in the north to the Senegal river in the south.
The remark ignited a wave of anger in Mauritania as Chabat’s statement was meant to suggest that the country is part of Morocco.
Beyond his inclination toward making controversial statements, Chabat has long been facing several accusations of corruption and embezzlement of public funds during his term as a mayor of Fez between 2003 and 2015.
For this year’s elections, Chabat hoped for his popularity among Fez residents to give him an edge.
But many observers now argue it is safe to say that the veteran politician’s long-running association with fraudulent deals and mismanagement ultimately sank what might be his last shot at political redemption.
For Fez residents, though, the question now is whether Bekkali and his RNI cadre can deliver on their promises or at least do better than the legacy of failed leadership and corruption they lambasted during the electoral campaign.
