Head of Government-designate Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri said on Saturday that negotiations to form the next government would “not be easy”, as she pledged to put together a “strong political government” and rejected patronage in the distribution of cabinet posts.
“We want political leaders, competent people, people with integrity and ethics, who carry values and are ready to make sacrifices for this nation,” she told an extraordinary session of PAM’s National Council in Skhirat.
El Mansouri said PAM would not approach the negotiations as an exercise in dividing positions and portfolios, insisting that the party intended to honor the commitment it had made to Moroccans.
She also defended her decision to open consultations to all parties represented in Parliament, including those that have already announced that they will sit in opposition.
The PJD and the Left Alliance have both chosen the opposition benches.
“That is their right,” El Mansouri said, before noting that a government program had yet to be drawn up.
“We are in the majority, we are going to lead the next government. We are an institution and the opposition is an institution,” she said.
“We want to sit with everyone, we are listening to everyone. There must never be a break between institutions.”
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Her remarks came after planned consultations with both opposition formations failed to take place.
PJD secretary-general Abdelilah Benkirane refused to attend talks at PAM headquarters on Thursday, saying his party had already chosen opposition and would not join the government.
The Left Alliance, which had agreed in principle to meet El Mansouri, cancelled its Friday appointment after the two sides failed to agree on a venue. The alliance had asked for the meeting to be held at an independent location rather than PAM headquarters.
El Mansouri began consultations on Wednesday and has so far met RNI, Istiqlal, the Popular Movement, USFP, PPS, the Constitutional Union and MDS.
Earlier in her address, she congratulated PAM members and supporters on the party’s victory in the Sept 23 legislative election, saying the result showed the “rootedness” of its political and social project and a desire among voters for change and reform.
