Why did Morocco go five months without a government?
In 2016 the PJD won the elections but could not form a majority. After the Palace stepped in, the new government was formed in three weeks, with the party the winner had refused.
In autumn 2016 Morocco voted under the new rules of the 2011 Constitution: the king appoints the head of government from the party that comes first. There was a winner. For five months, there was no government. It is the story that best shows the gap between who wins elections and who decides.
Who won the 2016 elections?
In the legislative elections of 7 October 2016, the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) came first with 125 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives. Second, with 102 seats, was the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), founded in 2008 by Fouad Ali El Himma, a schoolmate of the king and later his adviser.
A few days later the king again asked Abdelilah Benkirane, PJD secretary-general and head of government since 2011, to form the executive. With 125 of 395 seats, he needed a coalition.
Why was no government formed?
The key was the National Rally of Independents (RNI). At the end of October 2016 its new president was Aziz Akhannouch, minister of agriculture and one of the country’s leading businessmen. Without the RNI, Benkirane did not have the numbers.
The RNI’s conditions changed several times. First it asked to exclude Istiqlal and bring in the Constitutional Union. Then it insisted on the entry of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP). Benkirane wanted to renew the outgoing majority and called the USFP a «red line». In January 2017 the RNI, the Constitutional Union, the USFP and the Popular Movement jointly asked him to widen the majority; Benkirane broke off talks with Akhannouch.
What happened on 15 March 2017?
After five months of deadlock, on 15 March 2017 a statement from the royal cabinet announced that the king had ended Benkirane’s mandate and would choose another PJD figure.
On 17 March the king appointed Saadeddine El Othmani, the party’s number two, as head of government. On 25 March El Othmani announced the coalition: the PJD and the PPS, plus the RNI, the Popular Movement, the Constitutional Union and the USFP, the party Benkirane had refused. On 5 April the king appointed the government.
- 7 October 2016. Elections: PJD first with 125 seats.
- October 2016 - March 2017. Five months without a majority.
- 15 March 2017. The king ends Benkirane's mandate.
- 17 March. El Othmani appointed.
- 25 March. Six-party coalition, including the USFP.
- 5 April. Government appointed.
How should this story be read?
There are two readings.
The first comes from the press close to the Palace. On 16 March 2017 the website Le360 wrote that by removing Benkirane but choosing his successor within the PJD, the king had applied article 47 of the Constitution «to the letter» and unblocked institutions paralysed by the head of government’s rigidity.
The second looks at the outcome. The condition on which the talks had stalled, the entry of the USFP, was accepted within eight days by the new head of government. According to the Universalis encyclopaedia, the make-up of the government appointed on 5 April showed the RNI strengthened at the PJD’s expense.
Our reading is that both are true. The Constitution was respected in form: the head of government stayed within the winning party. But the outcome rewarded those who had blocked the talks, not those who had won the elections. Five months of deadlock, three weeks to get out of it: the Palace made the difference.
What is documented
- Election results, the dates of the mandate, its end and the appointments.
- The RNI's conditions and Benkirane's refusal, as reported by the Moroccan press.
What remains interpretation
- Whether the deadlock was wanted or merely endured by the Palace.
- How independently the RNI was acting.
Why does it matter?
The 2016 vote decided who should lead the government. It did not decide with whom, or on what terms. When the elected leader and the Palace disagreed, the solution came from the Palace, within the rules of the Constitution. To understand who governs Morocco you have to look at both: the elections and the Council of Ministers.
Sources
- Kingdom of Morocco, text adopted by referendum on 1 July 2011 (French version), Constitution of the Kingdom of Morocco (2011), arts. 47, 48, 49, 92, 1 July 2011
- Morocco World News (Interior Ministry results), PJD wins parliamentary elections, Istiqlal second, PAM third place, 8 October 2016 — PJD 125 seats, PAM 102, out of 395
- TelQuel, Gouvernement Benkirane: face au mur, 10 November 2016
- TelQuel, Tractations gouvernementales: à qui profite le blocage?, 9 January 2017
- TelQuel, Mohammed VI désignera un nouveau chef du gouvernement, 15 March 2017
- Financial Afrik, Maroc: le roi nomme El Othmani chef de gouvernement, 17 March 2017
- Encyclopædia Universalis, Maroc. Remplacement du Premier ministre (15 mars - 5 avril 2017)
- Le360, En écartant Benkirane, le roi applique à la lettre la Constitution, 16 March 2017 — outlet close to the Palace: cited as a position, not as confirmation