Moroccan king names Othmani as new prime minister

Casablanca - Moroccan King Mohammed VI appointed a new prime minister from the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) to form a government after ousted premier Abdelilah Benkirane failed to break a political deadlock over five months.
The Moroccan monarch named former Foreign minister and psychiatrist Saad Eddine El Othmani to form a new government two days after removing Benkirane.
Othmani was secretary-general of the PJD from 2004-08. He served as Foreign minister from January 2012 to October 2013.
“The king extolled, on several occasions, the designated prime minister (Benkirane) to accelerate the creation of a new government,” the royal palaces said in a statement March 15th.
“The king took the decision in the absence of signs that suggest an imminent formation of a government and due to his concern about overcoming the current blockage in political negotiations,” it added.
Article 47 in the Constitution stipulates that “the king appoints the head of government from the political party that topped the parliamentary elections in the light of their results”.
Benkirane’s response to being removed as prime minister was limited to saying: “There are no comments about the king’s decision. The talks are over.” He said he would step down from the leadership of the PJD in the coming months.
Benkirane was appointed prime minister in 2011 after the PJD won legislative elections for the first time. PJD’s victory came during a time massive street protests swept the country. The demonstrations drove the monarchy to grant concessions, including the approval of a new constitution that transferred some of its power to parliament.
In October, the PJD increased its number of seats in parliament but it did not secure an absolute majority and failed to form a coalition government with rival parties. Negotiations with the National Rally of Independents (RNI) party, led by Aziz Akhannouch, ended January 17th when talks between Benkirane and Akhannouch reached an impasse.
The RNI had laid out several conditions for its participation in an Islamist-led government, including inclusion of the Constitutional Union (UC), the Popular Movement (MP) and the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) in a bloc while leaving out the conservative, monarchist Istiqlal Party (PI).
The parties clashed over the role of the USFP, which the RNI said would strengthen the coalition but which Benkirane refused to include in his government.
Last November, Benkirane said he would admit failure to the king if he was unsuccessful in forming a government but it was the king who stepped in to replace the prime minister, a rare decision that the royal palace said was necessary “to overcome the current situation of immobility and in his constant concern for consolidating democratic choice”.
Morocco’s political deadlock has been hugely damaging, not only delaying the government’s reform programme but also hurting the country’s business and investment climate. Until a new government is formed, the country’s budget cannot be approved.
Mountacir Zian, director-general of the Mediterranean Company of Analysis and Strategic Intelligence based in Rabat, said he expected one of two scenarios to play out. The first would be that a newly appointed prime minister accepted the USFP in the coalition government, possibly creating friction within the PJD.
The second scenario, Zian said, “is that the new PM will accept the nomination and call for the dissolution of the parliament and new elections, a situation from which the PJD will emerge as a winner”.
“In this case, we can say that the PJD will benefit from popular support,” Zian said.