On February 7 in El Jadida, the RNI will elect its fifth president during an extraordinary congress. This event is nothing out of the ordinary for a political party accustomed to sudden transitions. Let's take a look back at the significant events marking nearly five decades of this party's existence. DR ‹ › Since its founding in 1978, the National Rally of Independents (RNI) has lived through a turbulent history marked by internal power struggles, extraordinary congresses, repeated attempts to unseat its leaders, including its founder in 2007, and a major split as early as 1981. The announcement of Aziz Akhannouch's withdrawal from the party's presidency on January 11 fits squarely into this long tradition of internal upheaval. After the initial euphoria of November 28, 1978, when 167 politically unaffiliated deputies rallied under the RNI banner and entrusted its leadership to Ahmed Osman, then Prime Minister, disillusionment set in quickly. On March 22, 1979, King Hassan II abruptly dismissed his son-in-law from the premiership and replaced him with Mohamed Karim Lamrani, triggering the party's first major fracture. In June 1981, following a congress held in Casablanca, a group of parliamentarians broke away from the RNI to form the National Democratic Party (PND). The new party was led by Mohamed Arsalane El Jadidi, a founding member of the RNI and a former influential trade unionist within the UMT, who would go on to hold several ministerial posts throughout the 1980s. Despite this split, Ahmed Osman managed to retain control of the RNI, notably through his election in 1984 as President of the Chamber of Representatives, a position he held until 1992. During the final years of Hassan II's reign, the RNI, often branded by the opposition as the «party of the administration», remained largely on the margins of political life. It was overshadowed by negotiations between the Palace, the Istiqlal Party, and the USFP aimed at forming a new government capable of reviving the political scene and preparing for the transition to the throne. The RNI nevertheless took part in this historic moment by joining the coalition government led by Abderrahmane El Youssoufi on February 4, 1998. Ahmed Osman, first president of the RNI / DR The founding president ousted by his «faithful» The accession of King Mohammed VI in July 1999 marked the beginning of Ahmed Osman's gradual loss of authority within the party. A dissenting faction led by businessman Abdelahadi El Alami openly called for his departure. The rebellion eventually prevailed, and in April 2007, Ahmed Osman stepped down as president of the RNI. An extraordinary congress was held the following month. In a surprise outcome, Mustapha Mansouri was elected party leader, despite Mustapha Oukacha, then president of the Chamber of Advisors, being widely seen as the frontrunner, with former human rights minister Mohamed Aujjar also in contention. Mansouri's victory failed to put an end to internal divisions. In 2010, a self-styled «reformist» faction emerged under the leadership of Salaheddine Mezouar, then Minister of Finance in the Abbas El Fassi government. After weeks of increasingly tense public exchanges between the rival camps, Mansouri, like his predecessor Ahmed Osman, was removed from the presidency on January 23, 2010, in Marrakech. Sudden ends of term The Mezouar era came to an abrupt end in October 2016, following the RNI's heavy defeat in the legislative elections of October 7. He resigned, clearing the way for yet another extraordinary congress. On October 30 in Bouznika, Aziz Akhannouch was elected party president, despite having announced his resignation from the RNI in November 2011 in order to retain his post as Minister of Agriculture in the Benkirane government. Aziz Akhannouch, outgoing president of the RNI / DRAziz Akhannouch, outgoing president of the RNI / DR Akhannouch's leadership marked a turning point for the party. Under his presidency, the RNI went on to lead the executive branch after its sweeping victory in the October 2021 legislative elections, an unprecedented achievement in the party's eventful history. At its creation, Ahmed Osman had already been Prime Minister, but by royal appointment rather than through an electoral victory. On February 7 in El Jadida, the RNI is set to hold yet another extraordinary congress to elect Aziz Akhannouch's successor, even as he had been preparing the ground for a six-month extension of his mandate. A reversal that once again reflects the turbulent life of the Dove party.
