Three days after its ceremonial opening, Morocco’s new House of Representatives has yet to elect a speaker or set a timetable for parliamentary business, with the contest for the top post awaiting clarity on the next governing majority.
No plenary sitting or committee meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 12, and the 395 newly elected MPs have yet to receive an agenda for the start of the week, parliamentary sources told Le360.
The House, formally opened by King Mohammed VI on Friday, is being run by a caretaker bureau whose principal task is to arrange the election of its president.
Under parliamentary rules, the provisional bureau is headed by the oldest member of the House, assisted by the two youngest female and two youngest male deputies. The secretary-general, meanwhile, keeps the administration running, including the payment of staff salaries and allowances and other operating expenses.
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But the delay in electing a speaker appears to be caught up in the political bargaining over the next government.
“We believe the absence of an agenda is due to the ongoing negotiations by the new head of government to form her majority, which are also likely to influence the choice of the next speaker,” a parliamentary source said on condition of anonymity.
Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri is still negotiating the composition of her government, with a four-party alliance bringing together the PAM, Istiqlal, the USFP and the PPS among the options under consideration.
The proposed grouping would command 207 seats in the 395-member House—nine above the 198 required for an absolute majority.
The PAM, which emerged as the largest party in the September 23 elections with 97 seats, would be joined by Istiqlal with 65, the USFP with 26 and the PPS with 19.
That arithmetic has put the speakership in the spotlight, with a parliamentary source suggesting that the post could go to the PAM.
Abdellatif Miraoui, a PAM member and outgoing minister of higher education, scientific research and innovation, is among the names being mentioned in the discussions.
No formal candidacy has been announced, however, and the proposed coalition has yet to be finalized.
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The PPS has already reached a separate arrangement inside the House, forming a 22-member parliamentary group with the Democratic Forces Front (FFD), which holds two seats, and the Party of Neo-Democrats, which has one.
That agreement concerns parliamentary organization rather than participation in government. It does not, by itself, increase the proposed four-party coalition’s strength from 207 to 210 seats.
The provisional bureau will have to convene a sitting to elect the new speaker once the political arrangements become clearer.
The elected president will then oversee the formation of the permanent bureau and other House bodies, as required by the chamber’s rules.
Until that vote takes place, the caretaker bureau remains in charge, with no plenary or committee business on Monday’s calendar.
