Ahmed Touizi elected Speaker of Morocco’s House of Representatives — Asharq Al-Awsat

Morocco’s House of Representatives elected Ahmed Touizi as its new speaker on October 13. The representative of the Authenticity and Modernity Party received 220 votes and will lead the lower house of parliament for a five-year term.

His rival from the opposition Justice and Development Party, Idriss El Azami El Idrissi, received 59 votes. In total, lawmakers cast 369 ballots, 90 of which were blank or deemed invalid, Asharq Al-Awsat reports.

Leadership of the House of Representatives

The following day, lawmakers approved a single list for the chamber’s bureau, backed by 293 parliamentarians. Mustapha Baitas of the National Rally of Independents became first deputy speaker, while Khalid Chennak of the Istiqlal Party became second deputy speaker.

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Heads of the House of Representatives’ nine standing committees were also appointed. In particular, the Foreign Affairs Committee was headed by Mohamed El Gharass of the Constitutional Union, the Justice and Legislation Committee by Mohamed Ghiat of the National Rally of Independents, and the Finance Committee by Hicham El M’hajri of the Authenticity and Modernity Party.

Touizi’s political experience

The 71-year-old Touizi was born in the 1950s and worked as a natural sciences teacher in Morocco’s public education system before pursuing a political career. His political activity is linked to Al Haouz province and the town of Ait Ourir near Marrakech, where he chaired the municipal council for several terms.

From 2011 to 2016, Touizi was president of the Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz regional council. He also served in the House of Councillors and later became a member of the House of Representatives for the Al Haouz district and headed the parliamentary group of the Authenticity and Modernity Party. As speaker, he succeeded Rachid Talbi Alami of the National Rally of Independents.