Will Benkirane be able to form new Moroccan government?
Morocco's recently reappointed prime minister needs to overcome huge challenges to reach a consensus and form a government, as the partisan bloc that is close to the royal palace has set conditions for taking part in a government led by Islamists.
Politicians in Morocco are hitting some hurdles as they work to form a postelection government.
King Mohammed VI, in his capacity as head of state, on Oct. 10 named Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) head Abdelilah Benkirane to a second term as prime minister. More than a month later, however, Benkirane finds himself in trouble.
So far, Benkirane has failed to secure the needed majority to win a vote of confidence in parliament, after a new partisan bloc — consisting of the National Rally of Independents (RNI), the Popular Movement (MP) and the Constitutional Union — was formed. The bloc is demanding to participate in the government as a single bloc. Benkirane, his party and his allies — the nationalist Independence Party (IP) and the leftist Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS) — had previously announced they would name the ministers in the new government; they have rejected the bloc's demand.
Benkirane has been prime minister since 2011. He told Akhbar al-Youm daily newspaper on Nov. 5 that if he fails to form a government by consulting with other parties and securing a majority to form the council of ministers, he will inform the monarch and go home. He said he will not be forced into a corner by any party. The obstruction is being caused by RNI, which was established by the administration and is close to the palace.
