Negotiations are underway in Morocco to form a new government coalition after the Istiqlal party left the Islamist-majority administration. The Justice and Development Party (PJD) has given Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane the go ahead to seek out a new coalition ally, keeping its junior partners (the Party of Progress and Socialism and the People’s Movement) abreast of its meetings with the opposition.
And while the PJD secretariat says all opposition parties will be involved in the talks, the only workable possibilities appear to be the National Rally of Independents (RNI) and Constitutional Union (UC). Alliances with the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) or the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) are improbable.
Benkirane has already met with RNI leader Salaheddine Mezouar while staving off the hawks in his own party, who will push for early elections should a new alliance partner come into the picture. ”RNI won’t be satisfied just with picking up portfolios left vacant by resigning Istiqlal ministers, nor can it approve a program it has voted against and opposed for the past 18 months”, University Mohammed V political science professor Ahmed Bouz explained.
Benkirane is faced with the task of changing the executive architecture, revisiting the government’s program, and changing its priorities: the very demands Istiqlal had made. (ANSAmed).
(ANSAmed) – RABAT, JULY 22
