Morocco’s Ahmed Touizi Elected House Speaker with 220 Votes

Speaker Election Results

Morocco’s House of Representatives chose Ahmed Touizi of the Authenticity and Modernity Party as its speaker on Tuesday, after he secured 220 votes while his rival Idriss El Azami El Idrissi of the Justice and Development Party received 59 votes.

Parliamentary Landscape After September 23 Elections

Touizi, who had led PAM’s parliamentary group during the 2021‑2026 legislative term, was backed by the parliamentary majority. His election coincides with the start of work by the newly convened parliament following the September 23 legislative elections that altered the balance in the lower house. After those elections PAM emerged as the largest party with 97 seats, whereas the National Rally of Independents, which had headed the previous term, moved into opposition. The vote underscores the shifting dynamics in North African politics as Morocco navigates a new parliamentary term.

Procedural Framework for the Vote

The presiding officer, Abdelaziz Aba of the Istiqlal Party, reported that 369 ballots were cast, of which 279 were valid and 90 invalid. Aba chaired the session as head of the provisional bureau under Article 48 of the House’s rules of procedure, which tasks the provisional bureau with organising and supervising the speaker’s election. Article 47 outlines how the member who oversees the election session is chosen, based on parliamentary seniority and age. According to a senior PAM source cited by Hespress, the speakership had been reserved for PAM during inter‑party talks on forming the new government, reflecting the convention that the party leading the government also takes the lower‑house speakership. Article 62 of Morocco’s 2011 Constitution states that the speaker, bureau members and standing‑committee heads are elected at the start of a legislative term and again during the April session of the third year for the remainder of the term, with bureau seats allocated proportionally among parliamentary groups. Under Article 52 of the House’s rules of procedure, the speaker is chosen by secret ballot and an absolute majority of members is required to win in the first round.

Government Formation and Bureau Composition

The vote marks another stage in the reorganisation of Morocco’s parliament after the September 23 elections. The new five‑year term opened with the first session of the first legislative year of the 12th legislature and the announcement of a government led by Fatima Zahra Mansouri. Four parties have joined the governing majority, while others sit in opposition, and two allied components within a single parliamentary group have said they will give “critical support.”