The Left Alliance in Morocco has announced that its planned meeting with Head of Government-designate Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri will not take place due to a dispute over the venue. The alliance, comprising the Unified Socialist Party and the Federation of the Democratic Left, had initially agreed to meet with El Mansouri as part of her consultations to form the next government. However, the meeting was canceled after the alliance requested a neutral location, independent of any party headquarters, which was not agreed upon.
The Left Alliance emphasized that its choice of "citizen opposition" from within Parliament is rooted in its commitment to citizens' concerns and the country's higher interest. The group, which won eight seats in the recent elections, drew a clear line between two separate questions: the consultative meeting and the government talks in principle. According to sources within the alliance, reports of a refusal of consultations were inaccurate, and the group did not reject the meeting or government talks in principle, but objected to the location.
The dispute over the venue is not unique to the Left Alliance. The Justice and Development Party had taken a comparable stance a day earlier, with its secretary-general, Abdelilah Benkirane, announcing that none of his party's leaders would attend the meeting scheduled with El Mansouri due to the venue. Benkirane conditioned any meeting on it being held at PJD headquarters, since El Mansouri was the one who had sought it. He stated that his party had already resolved to sit in the opposition.
El Mansouri responded to the PJD's stance, noting that her party's approach since the election results had rested on contacting every political party represented in Parliament. She argued that consultation "is imposed on us," while each party kept the freedom to accept dialogue or decline it. El Mansouri added that "dialogue is a fundamental principle in every democratic state," and that "each of us retains our choices and freedom."
The standoff unfolds as El Mansouri works to assemble a coalition. King Mohammed VI appointed her on Tuesday, and she became Morocco's first woman head of government. Her party, the Authenticity and Modernity Party, won the September 23 vote with 97 of the 395 seats, short of an absolute majority. The party finished ahead of the National Rally of Independents, with the Istiqlal Party third and the PJD fourth.
Nabila Mounib, former secretary-general of the Unified Socialist Party, framed El Mansouri's appointment in conditional terms. She argued that naming a woman to head the government would have been a positive development for women, had Morocco been a democracy. Mounib placed the appointment against the backdrop of a patriarchal society, which she described as a system of male domination at the political, social, and economic levels.
The developments come as Parliament is scheduled to reconvene on October 9. El Mansouri's party won 97 seats, with one million of the 15.8 million registered voters backing the Authenticity and Modernity Party. The vote was the first since last year's Gen Z youth-led protests and the July border crisis at occupied Ceuta.
Key points
- The Left Alliance and PJD have declined to meet with El Mansouri due to a dispute over the venue, with the parties requesting a neutral location.
- El Mansouri's party, the Authenticity and Modernity Party, won 97 seats in the recent elections, short of an absolute majority.
- The developments come as El Mansouri works to assemble a coalition and Parliament is scheduled to reconvene on October 9.
