Authenticity and Modernity announces four-party coalition to form Fatima Zahra Mansouri government

The Authenticity and Modernity Party, the winner of the legislative elections, announced on Monday that it had reached an agreement to form a government coalition made up of four parties to lead the government of Fatima Zahra Mansouri.

The party said in a statement, after consultations that lasted days, that it had agreed on a "political majority" that includes the following parties: the Authenticity and Modernity Party, the Istiqlal Party, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces, and the Party of Progress and Socialism. In contrast, the National Rally of Independents, which came second in the September 23 elections, remained in opposition.

King Mohammed VI appointed on September 29 Fatima Zahra Mansouri, coordinator of the collective leadership of the Authenticity and Modernity Party, as head of government entrusted with forming a ministerial team for five years, making her the first woman to hold this position in the country's history.

The statement, quoted by Agence France-Presse, added that the four parties will propose names of "ministers who possess competence, political sensibility, integrity and uprightness," pointing to the aim of forming a "cohesive and strong" government capable of implementing the contents of the government program that will be prepared as soon as possible.

The proposed members of the government will be appointed by King Mohammed VI, while it is customary for the royal palace to appoint ministers of strategic portfolios such as the interior and foreign affairs from outside political parties.

The announced coalition represents 207 seats out of 395 seats in the House of Representatives, while the participation represents the return of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces and the Party of Progress and Socialism to the government after five years in parliamentary opposition.

The expected government faces several political and social challenges, including restoring trust in political institutions, addressing youth unemployment, and social and regional disparities.