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First Female Mayor of Morocco's Capital Rabat Resigns

A street in Moroccan capital Rabat (File photo/AFP)
A street in Moroccan capital Rabat (File photo/AFP)
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First Female Mayor of Morocco's Capital Rabat Resigns

A street in Moroccan capital Rabat (File photo/AFP)
A street in Moroccan capital Rabat (File photo/AFP)

The mayor of Rabat, the first woman elected to the job, resigned on Wednesday amid criticism of her management of the Moroccan capital, she told AFP.

For months, Asmaa Rhlalou, 54, has been criticized by elected officials and municipal councillors for what they called "catastrophic" and "autocratic" management of the city, local media reported.

"I prefer to prioritize the interests of the city and its citizens in the face of the blockage that Rabat is experiencing," she said.

Rhlalou has sent her letter of resignation to the regional governor.

Some of the criticism of the mayor has centred on her use of municipal funds for recovery efforts in the Marrakesh region hit hard by an earthquake last year.

Rhlalou, a former journalist and a member of the National Rally of Independents party, which governs Morocco, was elected to a six-year term in September 2021.

Two other women, Nabila Rmili and Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, were elected mayors of Casablanca and Marrakesh, respectively, a first in the North African kingdom.

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Arab World

Lebanon's New President Says to Ensure State Has Exclusive Right to Carry Arms

This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
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Lebanon's New President Says to Ensure State Has Exclusive Right to Carry Arms

This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)

Lebanon's newly elected President Joseph Aoun told lawmakers on Thursday that he will work to ensure the state has the exclusive right to carry arms, in his first speech at parliament after he was elected.

His comments were seen partly as a reference to Hezbollah's arsenal, which he had not commented on publicly as the former army commander.

In a first round of voting Thursday, Aoun received 71 out of 128 votes but fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to win outright. Of the rest, 37 lawmakers cast blank ballots and 14 voted for “sovereignty and the constitution.”
In the second round, he received 99 votes.

In his speech in parliament, Aoun also pledged to carry out reforms to the judicial system and fight corruption.

He promised to control the country’s borders and “ensure the activation of the security services and to discuss a strategic defense policy that will enable the Lebanese state to remove the Israeli occupation from all Lebanese territories” in southern Lebanon, where the Israeli military has not yet withdrawn from dozens of villages.

He also vowed to reconstruct “what the Israeli army destroyed in the south, east and (Beirut’s southern) suburbs.”

Thursday’s vote came weeks after a tenuous ceasefire agreement halted a 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and at a time when Lebanon’s leaders are seeking international assistance for reconstruction.

Aoun said he would call for parliamentary consultations as soon as possible on naming a new prime minister.