It's now official. Morocco is interested in a permanent seat on the Security Council. This announcement was made on Saturday, December 14, in Rabat by the Kingdom's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Omar Hilale. «The Kingdom is eligible to become a member of the Security Council because, quite simply, the fundamental criterion for membership is to contribute to peace and security in the world, in particular by contributing to peacekeeping forces», he said in an interview with MAP. «Morocco is best placed to represent Africa on the Security Council». Omar Hilale Until now, Rabat had remained discreet about its ambitions to join the club of permanent members of the UN's executive body. South Africa, Algeria, Egypt, and Nigeria are all eyeing the same goal. Morocco has a good chance of winning one of the two seats that should go to Africa as part of the Security Council reform project, relaunched in September 2022 by President Joe Biden. The Kingdom has no shortage of assets. It has already forged strategic alliances with the United States, Russia, and China—three countries with which Rabat has maintained good relations in a turbulent geopolitical context. Israel is also expected to support Morocco's bid on behalf of Africa, as the two countries re-established diplomatic relations on December 10, 2020. On January 10, Morocco comfortably won the presidency of the UN Human Rights Council, by 30 votes to South Africa's 17. The list of candidate countries for the Club of Five must first be approved by the Security Council. It will then be submitted to the UN General Assembly for approval.
