Morocco’s football federation chief and former budget minister Fouzi Lekjaa was appointed economy and finance minister in the country’s new government, formed following the September 23 parliamentary elections, state news agency MAP reported.
Lekjaa, a member of the liberal-centrist Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), joins a 32-member government led by Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, whom King Mohammed VI appointed last month as the country’s first woman head of government after PAM won the largest share of seats in parliament.
PAM formed a coalition with the moderate socialist parties PPS and USFP, and the nationalist Istiqlal. Together , they hold 207 seats in parliament, above the 198 needed for a majority.
The new government retained the foreign affairs and interior ministers in their posts, MAP reported following the government appointment ceremony chaired by King Mohammed VI.
The lineup also retained the ministers responsible for justice, water, defence, industry and transport.
Among the newcomers, PPS leader Nabil Benabdallah returned to government as education minister, while fellow PPS member Charafat Afailal was named energy minister.
Other newcomers included Khalid Hatimi as minister of agriculture, maritime fisheries and food sovereignty.
The new government will oversee the final stages of a $20-billion push to prepare for the 2030 World Cup, which Morocco will co-host with Portugal and Spain.
It faces pressure to address unemployment and demands for better education and health services, which fuelled the Gen Z youth protests last year and the Ceuta migration crisis in July.
The new government, however, is not expected to change policy direction in Morocco, a constitutional monarchy where the king retains sweeping powers over foreign policy and defence.