Moroccan King Mohammed VI, head of the National Rally of Independents party, commissioned businessman Aziz Akhannouch - on Friday evening - to form a new government in Morocco, after his party won the general parliamentary, municipal and regional elections that took place on Wednesday.
A statement by the Ministry of Royal Palaces said that the Moroccan king received Akhannouch at the royal palace in Fez, and assigned him to form the new government, noting that this appointment came "in accordance with the requirements of the constitution and based on the results of the recent legislative elections."
The Tagammu Party - which is classified within the liberal rank - topped the results of the parliamentary elections, by obtaining 102 seats out of 395, while the Justice and Development Party, with an Islamic background, which headed the government in Morocco for a decade, fell to the eighth place, content with 13 seats, after it had 125 In the outgoing parliament.
Akhannouch was Minister of Agriculture in the outgoing government, and held this position since 2007.
His party, the National Rally of Independents, held key ministries in Saad Eddine El Othmani's government, such as the economy, finance, industry, and tourism.
It is expected that Akhannouch will hold consultations with the parties represented in Parliament to form a new government team, which will not include the Justice and Development Party, whose leadership announced Thursday that it had aligned itself in the opposition.
The National Rally of Independents was followed by the Authenticity and Modernity Party (86 seats), and Al-Istiqlal (81 seats).
On Thursday, the new prime minister affirmed his readiness to "work with confidence and responsibility with all parties that intersect with us in principles and programmes, under the high leadership of His Majesty the King."