HIBAPRESS
The House of Representatives' vote on the government program of the government of Fatima Ezzahra Mansouri, which secured 204 supporting votes versus 127 opposing votes, recorded the highest number of rejected votes for a government program since the adoption of the 2011 constitution, compared to the votes that accompanied the inauguration of previous governments.
A comparison of the voting results on Thursday evening reveals a noticeable increase in the number of representatives who rejected the current government program, as opposing votes for previous government programs ranged between 83 and 87 votes, according to the circulated figures regarding the votes of governments post-2011 constitution.
The vote on Abdelilah Benkirane's government in 2012 recorded opposition from 83 deputies, compared to 87 votes against Saad Eddine El Othmani's government in 2017, and then 83 votes against Aziz Akhannouch's government in 2021. In contrast, the number of votes rejecting the Mansouri government's program in 2026 rose to 127 votes, an increase of 40 votes compared to the previous highest opposition tally, recorded in 2017.
This difference highlights the widening scope of parliamentary opposition to the government program compared to previous terms, without affecting the government's fulfillment of the constitutional inauguration condition. The program received 204 votes, exceeding the required absolute majority threshold, which is set at 198 votes out of 395 members of the House of Representatives.
This result reflects a paradox between the availability of the constitutionally required majority for the government's inauguration and the high number of votes rejecting its program. The government has secured the confidence of the House of Representatives according to constitutional provisions, but it has faced a level of opposition since the vote that previous governments did not record in the provided comparisons.
These figures gain importance considering that the vote on the government program constitutes the first parliamentary test of the government's orientations and priorities, and it provides an indicator of the extent of support and opposition within the House of Representatives at the beginning of the term.
However, the number of opposing votes alone is not sufficient to judge the coherence of the government majority or the course of the relationship between its components and the opposition during the term, as these indicators also remain linked to subsequent votes on draft laws and the budget, and to the government's ability to maintain the support of its parliamentary majority.
Thus, the 2026 vote places the Mansouri government at the beginning of a different parliamentary term in terms of the recorded opposition volume, while the total number of supporting votes has constitutionally settled the issue of inauguration, and upcoming legislative milestones will reveal the stability of the majority and its ability to pass its program.
