On Thursday, September 10, 2026, Morocco officially commenced its electoral campaign leading up to the legislative elections scheduled for September 23. This campaign features participation from 27 political parties, with the government pledging to ensure transparency throughout the electoral process.
The campaign will run until midnight on Tuesday, September 22, allowing voters to cast their ballots the following day to select their representatives in what will be the twelfth election since the country gained independence. Competitors are vying for seats in the House of Representatives, which constitutes the lower chamber of Parliament. As of July, the number of registered voters in the electoral rolls reached 15,801,162, including 391,000 newly registered voters, of whom 54% are men and 46% women.
A total of 27 political parties are competing for 395 seats in the House of Representatives, with the electoral landscape divided into two main camps: the first comprises the current ruling majority parties, including the National Rally of Independents, the Authenticity and Modernity Party, and the Istiqlal Party. The second camp consists of opposition parties, most notably the Justice and Development Party, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces, the Popular Movement, and the Progress and Socialism Party.
In recent years, the Moroccan electoral system has been under scrutiny, with calls for enhancements to ensure fair and transparent elections. Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit has committed to ensuring the integrity of the upcoming parliamentary elections, emphasizing that the major challenges include establishing rules that promote transparency in the political and electoral arenas.
The last legislative elections in Morocco were held on September 8, 2021, where the National Rally of Independents emerged victorious, securing 102 seats. The Authenticity and Modernity Party came in second with 86 seats, followed by the Istiqlal Party with 81 seats. These elections resulted in the formation of a government led by Aziz Akhannouch, the leader of the National Rally of Independents, alongside a coalition that included the Authenticity and Modernity Party and the Istiqlal Party.
According to the 2011 Constitution, the Prime Minister is selected from the party that wins the most seats in the elections, and it has been customary for King Mohammed VI to designate the leader of that party for the role. The Prime Minister must then establish a parliamentary majority comprising at least 198 seats. Given the nature of the proportional representation electoral system, it is common for no single party to achieve this majority, prompting the newly appointed Prime Minister to engage in consultations with other political forces to form a coalition government that secures the necessary parliamentary majority.
As reported by aljazeera.net.
