PROPOSED NEW MOROCCAN GOVERNMENT TO INCLUDE TFF AS

C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 001601 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR MO SUBJECT: PROPOSED NEW MOROCCAN GOVERNMENT TO INCLUDE TFF AS FOREIGN MINISTER REF: RABAT 1599 Classified by Polcouns Craig Karp for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) Multiple press reports indicate that PM-designate Abbas El-Fassi submitted late October 11 his nominations for the Council of Ministers to King Mohammed VI. There are some inconsistencies in the different reports and the lists remain unofficial and unconfirmed. The King could render his decision as early as his speech to open Parliament later today, October 12, but more likely, an announcement is expected by the first working day after the Eid al-Fitr Islamic holiday this weekend--October 15 or 16. ¶2. (C) Current Foreign Ministry Minister-Delegate Taieb Fassi Fihri (TFF) appears set to be named Morocco's new Foreign Minister. His nomination is mentioned consistently in the reports we've seen, and was unofficially confirmed to us by a senior MFA official. With good personal ties and ready access to King Mohammed VI, TFF has been Minister-Delegate for Foreign Affairs since 2004, and was sometimes referred to as "the other Foreign Minister" or even the "real Foreign Minister." TFF joined the Foreign Ministry in 1986 and spent much of his diplomatic career focused on relations with the EU. He is well and favorably known to us and the USG in general. ¶3. (C) We are also hearing that Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa will retain his seat in the forthcoming cabinet. Appointments to both the Foreign and Interior Ministry portfolios (as well as Defense and Islamic Affairs) are among the "sovereign ministries," reporting directly to the King rather than the Prime Minister. Other reported ministerial nominations contain a mix of old and new faces, many of them former IV's or with other ties to the U.S.. ¶4. (C) The King retains full discretion to accept or substitute any name, (indeed the PM traditionally submits a short list to the King),but we expect that he has probably exercised this already in private, and will treat the list with the same "democratic logic" he used when naming as PM the leader of the largest party in Parliament, Abbas El-Fassi. (We will report the full roster when the new government is formally announced.) ***************************************** Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat ***************************************** Riley