Newly elected House Speaker Ahmed Touizi has pledged to maintain an equal distance from the parliamentary majority and opposition, saying his responsibility is to the institution rather than any political party.
Speaking after his election on Tuesday, the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) leader said he would work to restore Parliament’s standing and credibility among citizens, calling on MPs across party lines to play their part.
“As Speaker, I stand at an equal distance from the opposition and the majority because I preside over an institution,” Touizi said.
He maintained that the House must be allowed to discharge its legislative and oversight responsibilities effectively, pledging to uphold the Constitution and the chamber’s rules of procedure.
“We must all work together—opposition and majority, all male and female MPs—so that this institution regains its standing, effectiveness and credibility among citizens,” he said.
Touizi’s remarks came shortly after he secured 220 votes to defeat the Justice and Development Party’s (PJD) Driss Azami El Idrissi, who polled 59.
The PAM candidate had the backing of the four parties that have agreed to form the next government—PAM, Istiqlal, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) and the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS)—along with support from other parliamentary groups.
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The vote also saw 90 ballots declared invalid.
Omar Benjelloun, a Rabat MP from the Left Alliance, raised a procedural objection after the result was announced, saying the presiding officer had failed to formally disclose the number of invalid ballots.
“It was a point of view I wanted to raise,” Benjelloun said. The objection did not affect the election result.
Although some observers attributed the invalid ballots to MPs from the National Rally of Independents (RNI) and the Popular Movement (MP), the secret ballot made it impossible to establish how individual members voted.
The sitting was chaired by the House’s oldest member, 84-year-old Istiqlal MP Abdelaziz Abba.
Before the sitting was adjourned, a message of congratulations was addressed to King Mohammed VI.
Touizi’s election follows the agreement reached by PAM, Istiqlal, USFP and PPS to form a governing coalition under designated Head of Government Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, who has yet to announce her cabinet.
