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The 1998 Alternance government

How Abderrahmane Youssoufi went from exile and opposition to heading the Government, and why it was a turning point.

How Abderrahmane Youssoufi went from exile and opposition to heading the Government, and why it was a turning point.

Context After the Democratic Bloc parties declined to join the government in 1993–1994, the 1996 constitutional reform created a House of Representatives elected entirely by direct vote . The USFP won the November 1997 election with 57 seats .

The appointment In February 1998 King Hassan II appointed Abderrahmane Youssoufi, First Secretary of the USFP, as Prime Minister. Youssoufi was the first leader of the left-wing opposition to head a Moroccan government .

The coalition The government brought together the Koutla parties (USFP, Istiqlal, PPS) with the RNI, the National Popular Movement and the Front of Democratic Forces .

Legacy The government saw the accession of King Mohammed VI in 1999 . But the appointment of the technocrat Driss Jettou after the 2002 election, despite the USFP coming first, ended the experiment and was one of the reasons the appointment of the Head of Government from the winning party was written into the Constitution in 2011 .

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