Moroccan king names conservative party head as premier

Sep 19, 2007, 19:48 GMT

Rabat - Abbas el Fassi, head of Morocco's centre-right nationalist party Istiqlal, was nominated by King Mohammed VI to the post of new prime minister Wednesday following his party's recent election win.

Observers said the king's decision, reported by the state MAP news agency, meant a continuation was likely of the centre-left government which has ruled since 2002.

Istiqlal took 52 seats in the election two weeks ago, rising from the second to the strongest force in the 325-member parliament.

The Islamist Party of Justice and Development (PJD) finished second, increasing its representation from 42 to 46 seats but failing to make the breakthrough it hoped for to become the largest party.

The next runners-up where the Berber-inspired Popular Movement (MP) with 41 seats and the centre-right National Rally of Independents (RNI) with 39 seats.

Istiqlal Secretary General Abbas el-Fassi recently said the bloc of parties known as the Koutla was the main parliamentary force and met the conditions for maintaining the outgoing government coalition.

The big loser in the election was the Socialist USFP, which took 38 seats, down from 50 seats in 2002, slipping from biggest party to fifth place.

The Koutla comprises the Istiqlal, the USFP and the smaller Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS). The outgoing coalition government, which was headed by technocrat Driss Jettou, was formed by the Koutla, the MP and the RNI.