Morocco’s King Mohammed names new government

Morocco’s King Mohammed named a new government on Thursday after last month’s election, keeping the foreign and interior ministers in place but appointing Nadia Fettah Alaoui as finance minister, the state news agency reported.

In a monarchy where the king has the final say on all major decisions, the new government’s main task will be to implement a development model that the palace has commissioned aimed at reducing inequality, cutting poverty and fostering growth.

Aziz Akhannouch, appointed prime minister after his liberal RNI party came first in the election, has formed a coalition with the liberal PAM and the conservative Istiqlal parties.

The three parties command a comfortable majority in the parliament, with a combined 270 seats compared to the 198 needed to pass legislation.

The new finance minister, Ms Alaoui, who was tourism minister in the previous government, will be one of seven women in the cabinet, including the former mayor of Marrakech, Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri.