La firma del pacto de mayoría allana el camino de las reformas en Marruecos

The leaders of Morocco’s coalition parties -- Al Istiqlal Party, Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), and National Rally of Independents (RNI) --  concluded on Monday a majority pact that will pave the way for government action on social and economic files.

According to local media, Prime Minister and Secretary-General of the RNI Aziz Akhannouch, alongside PAM’s Abdellatif Ouahbi and Al Istiqlal Party’s Nizar Baraka, discussed the charter of their commitment to working together to improve synergies.

Akhannouch, quoted by Morocco’s state agency MAP, said that the pact represents a political and moral contract binding the components of this coalition to achieve the objectives set out by the government programme as well as the electoral programmes of the majority parties. 

He noted that this "decisive" political moment carries several messages, in particular the start of a new political experience backed by a different culture in terms of management, with clear priorities, a well-defined agenda and a new vision based on constructive cooperation and mutual respect between the components of the coalition and which breaks with some past practices which prevented the coalition institutions to turn into bodies of development of solutions.

The charter, MAP reported, crystallises a common and unified vision to ensure the effectiveness of the action, both at the level of the government and the parliament and at the territorial level, with a view to offering all the institutional guarantees to consolidate the solidarity and consultation between the components of the majority. 

Akhannouch said that the signing of the majority charter is not an end in itself, but represents a means of giving new impetus to government and parliamentary action, so as to optimise efficiency. He noted that this objective requires a real partnership in favour of a political and common development project where the components of the government majority assume, with equity and solidarity, both its possible costs and its expected gains.

PAM's Secretary General, Abdellatif Ouahbi said that the signing of the Majority Charter constitutes a moment of real commitment, noting tha tthe document establishes, for the first time, a close link between the government's decision at both central and regional levels, "being aware of the need to consolidate the powers of advanced regionalization and to accelerate development projects at the regional level".

In order to achieve this goal, Ouahbi said, the provisions of this Charter will be reinforced by a collective commitment to ensure their implementation within the framework of a political and moral engagement, stressing that his party will spare no effort to preserve its content and to materialise its decisions. 

Moroccan political figures believe that the charter is not binding for the signatory parties, but rather represents a first step towards coalition parties’ commitment to resolve a number of issues, foremost of which are the required reforms in some sectors.

Professor of constitutional law and political analyst Rachid Lazrak said that "the coalition parties are required, after signing this charter, to take the appropriate decisions to carry out structural reforms, support economic growth and put it in the service of the social goals of the state."

Lazrak stressed that the government work charter is a "moral charter" that governs the ties, ethics, methodology and rules of work of the majority, and contributes to the follow-up of the government programme, and coordination to ensure solidarity within the coalition forming the government. 

"This charter should lead, in short, to confronting economic and social challenges, according to what was set in the government's work plan," Lazrak said.

Earlier this year, Akhannouch formed a government consisting of 24 ministers and delegated ministers, 18 of whom represented the three coalition parties.

The ministries were divided among the three partnering parties in the coalition government, including the liberal RNI, the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), and the conservative Istiqlal (Independence Party). 

Five ministers retain their positions in the new government, namely Minister of Interior Abdelouafi Laftit, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita, Minister of Islamic Affairs Ahmed Toufiq, Secretary General of the government Mohamed Hajoui, and the minister in charge of the National Defense Administration, Abdellatif Loudiyi.

Seven women take important positions in the new cabinet, including Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fettah Alaoui, and Minister of Planning, Housing and Urban Policy Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, who was the former mayor of Marrakech.

Ouahbi, president of the PAM, was appointed as the minister of justice, while Nizar Baraka, head of Istiqlal, was named the minister of equipment and water.