Rabat: dismissal of Driss Razi, president of the Hassan district, against a backdrop of tensions with his own party, the RNI

After a dismissal vote held during a municipal assembly this Wednesday, January 8, Driss Razi, president of the Hassan district in Rabat, was stripped of his functions. The elected representatives of the majority within the Municipal Council, made up of the National Rally of Independents (RNI), the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) and the Istiqlal Party, voted for dismissal.

It was the same for those of the Popular Movement (MP) and the Justice and Development Party (PJD), part of the opposition. On the other hand, Driss Razi, who enjoys a good reputation in the capital, saw many of his supporters among the city’s residents give him their support during the assembly’s work.

The deposed president said he wanted to wait for the reaction of the wali of the capital, Mohamed Yacoubi, before appealing this decision to the administrative court. A member of the RNI, he accuses Saâd Benmbarek, the regional coordinator of his own party, of being responsible for his dismissal. “I was dismissed not for failings or management errors, but simply because I did not support a candidacy of the regional coordinator of the party“, said Driss Razi.

Indeed, Driss Razi did not support the candidacy of Saâd Benmbarek in the partial legislative elections in the Rabat-Océan constituency, held on September 12, 2024, with an extremely low participation rate of 6%. The vote was, however, won by Saâd Benmbarek, who is none other than the husband of the former mayor, Asmaa Rhlalou, herself dismissed in 2024 by the city’s municipal council.

Read also: Rabat: Saâd Benmbarek, RNI candidate wins the partial legislative elections in the Rabat-Océan constituency

She was also one of the voters for the dismissal of Driss Razi, presented by many as his sworn enemy within the Municipal Council. “They dismissed me because I had also requested an audit of the company Rabat Parking, managed by Saâd Benmbarek“, still accuses the president of the district Hassan. Le360 tried several times to contact the regional coordinator of the RNI, without success.

Tension has been high within the municipality of Rabat since the 2021 local elections, at the end of which the formation of Aziz Akhannouch, supported by the PAM and Istiqlal, obtained the majority within the Municipal Council.