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Moroccan billionaire Aziz Akhannouch's party will not be part of the country's next government after Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, who is set to succeed him as prime minister, reached a deal with three other parties to form a ruling coalition.
El Mansouri's Authenticity and Modernity Party, known by its French initials PAM, agreed on Monday in Rabat to govern with the nationalist Istiqlal party, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces and the Party of Progress and Socialism, according to news organization The Media Line. The four parties hold 207 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives, nine more than the 198 needed for a majority.
Akhannouch's National Rally of Independents, or RNI, which won 66 seats and finished second in the Sept. 23 election, will not join the government, The Media Line reported. The party had led Morocco's ruling coalition since 2021, with PAM and Istiqlal as junior partners.
In a joint statement, the four parties said the deal "produces a strong political government united in, and committed to, a shared reformist vision," according to Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National.
Handover ahead
King Mohammed VI named El Mansouri, 50, as Morocco's first female prime minister on Sept. 29, after PAM won the most seats. A lawyer and mayor of Marrakech, she served as housing and urban planning minister in Akhannouch's cabinet.
Akhannouch is staying on in a caretaker role until her cabinet is appointed. The coalition partners still have to divide ministerial posts and agree on a government program before seeking parliamentary approval, The Media Line reported. The 2027 budget is due on Oct. 20.
The election was a heavy defeat for the RNI, which fell from 102 seats in 2021. Turnout was 38%, down from about 50% five years ago. Mohamed Chouki, who replaced Akhannouch as RNI president in February after he chose not to seek a third term as party leader, told reporters after the vote that the party "does not want to minimize the significance of this decline, nor seek justifications for it," according to Morocco World News. He congratulated PAM and said the RNI would leave decisions on alliances to its party bodies.
Business and politics
Akhannouch's time in office was dogged by questions about the overlap between his government role and his family's business. He is the majority owner of Akwa Group, the conglomerate founded in 1932 by his father and a partner, whose Afriquia brand runs Morocco's largest fuel distribution network. Akwa also has interests in gas, chemicals, media and property.
Afriquia stations were the main target of a consumer boycott in 2018, when Akhannouch was agriculture minister. Fuel price increases after 2022 became one of the main lines of attack against his government.
Afriquia Gaz, Akwa's listed gas distribution unit, reported a profit of 370 million dirhams ($37.7 million) for the first half of 2026, Billionaires.Africa reported this month.
Akhannouch and his family are worth $1.6 billion, according to Forbes.
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