Morocco’s PM Launches Consultations Ahead of Expected Cabinet Reshuffle

FILE PHOTO - Saad Eddine El Othmani gives a speech in Rabat, March 18, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer
FILE PHOTO - Saad Eddine El Othmani gives a speech in Rabat, March 18, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer
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Morocco’s PM Launches Consultations Ahead of Expected Cabinet Reshuffle

FILE PHOTO - Saad Eddine El Othmani gives a speech in Rabat, March 18, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer
FILE PHOTO - Saad Eddine El Othmani gives a speech in Rabat, March 18, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer

Moroccan Prime Minster Saad Eddine El Othmani has launched consultations with political parties representing the parliamentary majority over an upcoming cabinet reshuffle, the government spokesman, Mustapha El Khalfi, said.

El Othmani will study a list of proposals, El Khalfi said Thursday in his briefing to reporters after the cabinet session.

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI said in July that he asked the prime minister to submit to him, after the summer break, proposals to fill executive posts in the government and the civil service with high-level national elites chosen on merit and competence.

In a speech marking twenty years of his rule, the King said certain projects and reforms require new leaders in decision-making positions.

According to the prime minister, a reform in the education sector aims to improve the quality of education.

In remarks made during the cabinet session Thursday, El Othmani said there is an agreement with the education minister to implement the sector’s reforms in line with the government’s strategic vision.



UN Rights Chief ‘Gravely Concerned’ by Lebanon Escalation

Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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UN Rights Chief ‘Gravely Concerned’ by Lebanon Escalation

Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

The UN rights chief on Tuesday voiced concern about the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon, where his office said nearly 100 people had been reported killed by Israeli airstrikes in recent days, including women, children and medics.

Israel has been locked in fighting with Lebanese armed group Hezbollah since Oct. 2023, and fighting has escalated dramatically since late September of this year.

"UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk is gravely concerned by the escalation in Lebanon with at least 97 people reportedly killed in Israeli airstrikes between the 22nd and 24th of November," Jeremy Laurence, a spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, told a Geneva press briefing.

He said that at least seven paramedics had been reported killed in three Israeli strikes in the south of Lebanon on Nov. 22-23, adding to 226 healthcare worker deaths since Oct. 7, 2023. He did not specify how many of the recent deaths had been verified by UN human rights monitors.

Israel says it targets military capabilities in Lebanon and Gaza and takes steps to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians. It accuses Hezbollah, like Hamas, of hiding among civilians, which they deny.