Hamid Chabatas Rabat - Ahmed Benkhdija The National Council for the Istiqlal Party (Independence Party) has elected Hamid Chabatas as the Secretary General for the Party. He will be succeeding Abbas El Fassi on Sunday in Skhirat near Rabat. The results were revealed following the counting of votes obtained. Following the 996 members of the National Council who are authorised to vote in the Secretariat elections, it was revealed Chabat received 478 votes whilst his rival Abdul Wahed El Fassi received 450 votes. Hamid Chabat, who is 59 years old, has held several positions. His most notable is the unanimous election in 2009 where he was elected Secretary of the General Union of Moroccan Workers (UGTM). Through his election as the Secretary General of the Istiqlal Party, Hamid Chabat has been able to win against his rival Abdul Wahid El Fassi - the historic leader of the party and one of the men of the national movement in Morocco that confronted the French occupation. Chapter 57 of the law that governs the Istiqlal Party, which is one of the oldest Moroccan parties, stipulates that the Secretary General of the party is elected by members of the National Council through a secret ballot and by a vote majority for a period of four years that is renewable. The Secretary General might be elected for a new term exceptionally, if he was responsible for the first ministry.