National Rally of Independents

National Rally of Independents
Arabic: التجمع الوطني للأحرار‎
French: Rassemblement National des Indépendants
Standard Moroccan Tamazight: ⴰⴳⵔⴰⵡ ⴰⵏⴰⵎⵓⵔ ⵢ ⵉⵏⵙⵉⵎⴰⵏⵏ
PresidentAziz Akhannouch
FounderAhmed Osman
Founded28 November 1978 (1978-11-28)
HeadquartersRabat
IdeologyLiberalism
Classical liberalism
Monarchism
Political positionCentre to centre-right
Regional affiliationAfrica Liberal Network
European affiliationEuropean People’s Party
International affiliationLiberal International (observer)
Colours Sky blue
House of Representatives
102 / 395
House of Councillors
27 / 120
Pan-African Parliament
1 / 5
(Morocco seats)
Website
www.rni.ma

The National Rally of Independents (Arabic: التجمع الوطني للأحرار; French: Rassemblement National des Indépendants; Standard Moroccan Tamazight: ⴰⴳⵔⴰⵡ ⴰⵏⴰⵎⵓⵔ ⵢ ⵉⵏⵙⵉⵎⴰⵏⵏ), is a political party in Morocco. Despite self-identifying as social-democratic, the party has been described as pro-business and liberal, and the party has a history of cooperating with two other parties with a liberal orientation, the Popular Movement and the Constitutional Union, since 1993. Since September 2021, it has been the country's ruling party.

History and profile

The party was founded in 1978 by Prime Minister Ahmed Osman, brother-in-law of King Hassan II.

The establishment united independent politicians favoured by the palace and used by the administration to counter the parties that were critical of the king and his government. Later, it became an ordinary party without a special role in Morocco's multi-party system. It was succeeded by the Constitutional Union as the palace's favourite party.

In the parliamentary election held on 27 September 2002, the party won 41 out of 325 seats. In the next parliamentary election, held on 7 September 2007, the RNI won 39 out of 325 seats. The RNI was included in the government of Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi, formed on 15 October 2007.

After the 2016 parliamentary election, billionaire businessman Aziz Akhannouch was elected party president. He undertook a major image revamp for the party, establishing party youth, women's, and student wings, and created a large social media presence for the RNI, spending US$211,000 on Facebook and Instagram ads. Akhannouch also launched the "100 Villes, 100 Jours" (100 Cities, 100 Days) party initiative in which RNI officials and supporters travelled to 100 cities in Morocco, particularly medium and small-sized cities, in 100 days to have their citizens insert proposals for their cities.

In the 2021 general election, the RNI placed first, winning 102 seats amid a crushing defeat for the ruling Justice and Development Party. Akhannouch was then designated Prime Minister by Mohammed VI.

Electoral results

Moroccan Parliament

House of Representatives
Election year # of

overall votes

% of

overall vote

# of

overall seats won

+/– Leader
1984 763,395 (#2) 17.18
61 / 301
Increase 61
1993 824,117 (#1) 13.24
41 / 301
Decrease 19
1997 705,397 (#3) 11.07
46 / 325
Increase 5
2002 561,514 (#4) 9.28
41 / 325
Decrease 5
2007 429,053 (#3) 10.50
39 / 325
Decrease 2
2011 537,552 (#3) 11.33
52 / 395
Increase 13
2016 558,875 (#4) 9.65
37 / 395
Decrease 15
2021 2,088,548 (#1) 27.58
102 / 395
Increase 65

Prominent members


This page was last updated at 2024-02-14 02:37 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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