RNI moves into opposition after five years leading Morocco’s government

Morocco’s National Rally of Independents will move into opposition after five years at the center of government, party leader Mohamed Chouki said Tuesday, a day after Prime Minister-designate Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri announced a four-party coalition that excludes the RNI.

Chouki said the party would pursue a “strong, responsible and constructive” opposition rooted in the powers granted to parliamentary minorities under Morocco’s 2011 Constitution, describing the move as a normal transition in democratic politics rather than a withdrawal from political responsibility.

The shift is significant for a party that led the outgoing government and had initially sought to remain in office. On Oct. 3, the RNI’s National Council formally authorized Chouki to negotiate participation in Mansouri’s government, saying the party was ready to join the next executive.

That option ended Monday when Mansouri announced a governing majority bringing together PAM, Istiqlal, USFP and PPS. The four parties control 207 seats in the 395-member House of Representatives, nine more than the 198 required for an absolute majority.

The RNI, which finished second in the Sept. 23 election with 66 seats, will instead become one of the largest forces outside government.

Chouki said the party would draw on its experience in government and its knowledge of economic and social files to scrutinize the new executive, arguing that its parliamentary group was equipped to challenge government choices with data and policy arguments rather than “slogans and political bidding.”

He said the RNI would use constitutional oversight tools rigorously while also presenting legislative proposals and policy alternatives, stressing that the party would not oppose government measures simply for the sake of opposition.

“The real opposition is not measured by the harshness of political discourse,” Chouki said, but by its ability to improve public debate and the quality of government decisions.

The RNI’s move also redraws the parliamentary balance after the election. The party now joins the opposition alongside the Justice and Development Party and other groups outside Mansouri’s majority, giving the new government a larger and more experienced bloc of former ministers and lawmakers to face in Parliament.

Chouki said the party would continue supporting what it considers major national projects regardless of its position outside government, while reserving the right to challenge policies where it disagrees with the new executive.