Head of government-designate Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri is favoring a coalition with Istiqlal, USFP and PPS to form the next government, informed sources told Le360 on Monday.
Such an alliance would give the four parties 207 seats in the House of Representatives, nine more than the 198 required for an absolute majority.
PAM won 97 seats in the Sept 23 elections, followed by Istiqlal with 65. USFP has 26 seats and PPS 19.
Read also : PAM begins weighing partners for El Mansouri govt
The proposed combination would leave RNI, which won 66 seats and has expressed its willingness to join the government, outside the next majority.
El Mansouri began a second round of consultations on Monday with PPS secretary-general Nabil Benabdallah.
According to sources, she called Benabdallah on Sunday evening and asked him to meet her on Monday morning at PAM’s regional headquarters in Rabat.
PPS has not yet decided whether to join the government. Its Central Committee is due to meet on Tuesday to take a decision on participation.
Benabdallah had said after his first meeting with El Mansouri last week that the matter would be put before the party’s institutions. He had also said PPS and PAM had “many things in common.”
Read also : El Mansouri opens second round of govt talks with PPS chief
Istiqlal has already authorized secretary-general Nizar Baraka to negotiate the party’s participation in the government.
USFP has mandated First Secretary Driss Lachgar and Mustapha Ajjab to continue talks. The party has said any participation would require agreement on a common program and political principles.
The latest talks follow an extraordinary meeting of PAM’s National Council in Skhirat on Saturday, where El Mansouri was given a mandate to continue negotiations over the formation of the government.
A number of council members opposed the inclusion of RNI in the next majority.
“I got the message,” El Mansouri told them.
The council did not formally rule out an alliance with RNI in its final statement.
RNI’s National Council, for its part, has authorized its leadership to negotiate participation in the next government.
El Mansouri told PAM members on Saturday that negotiations “will not be easy” and said she wanted a “strong political government.”
“We want political leaders, competent people, people with integrity and ethics, who carry values and are ready to make sacrifices for this nation,” she said.
