Moroccan King Mohammed VI on Thursday appointed the new government headed by businessman Aziz Akhannouch, head of the National Rally of Independents (RNI), the liberal party that won the recent legislative elections, according to the official MAP agency.
In this team made up largely of technocrats, the holders of the royal ministries are renewed.
Thus, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita is retained in his functions in a context of regional tensions, in particular with Algeria.
Abdelouafi Laftit retains the Interior portfolio.
With 24 ministers, this new cabinet has seven women against four in the outgoing government.
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At the head of the legislative elections of September 8, the three parties of the government majority - the RNI, the PAM (Party of Authenticity and Modernity), of liberal tendency, and the old Party of Istiqlal (PI, center-right ) - share the morocco. The RNI retains the strategic ministries of Agriculture and the Economy. Aziz Akhannouch's party, considered a trusted man of the Royal Palace, raided the House of Representatives during the legislative elections, grabbing 102 of the 395 seats and dislodging the Islamists in power for a decade. The Akhannouch government will have to face the heavy repercussions of the health crisis linked to the Covid-19 pandemic: the economy contracted by 7% in 2020, the unemployment rate jumped to 11,9% the same year and social disparities widened, according to official reports.