The Istiqlal Party has entered a more advanced stage of preparation for the upcoming legislative elections scheduled for September 23, 2026. This shift is marked by a transition from managing internal nominations to reconfiguring its candidate map across various electoral districts. This early move reveals the competitive landscape that is set to characterize the upcoming electoral process.
Following a meeting of the party's executive committee on August 3, new endorsements were announced after reviewing candidate applications, which underwent scrutiny by the ethics and conduct committee. The party leadership emphasizes that this initiative aims to align its nominations with the foundational rules and internal code of conduct.
The new endorsements span several regions, from the north to the south, indicating the party's desire to expedite the establishment of its local lists rather than waiting until the election date approaches to finalize its candidates. In the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, the party has chosen Mohamed Hamoudani to lead its list in the Al Hoceima district, while in the eastern region, it selected Touh Touh Mohamadi for the Nador district, a name that comes from the National Rally of Independents, a member of the current governing coalition.
In Fes-Meknes, the party confirmed the candidacies of Hassan Sligoua in the northern Fes district, Hassan El Yamani in Meknes, and Mohamed Soufan in the Taounate-Tissa district. In the Marrakech-Safi region, Abdel Aziz Drouich was chosen for the Sidi Youssef Ben Ali district, while in Rabat-Salé, Idriss Al-Santisi, a former leader and parliamentarian from the Popular Movement Party, was selected for the Salé city district.
In the Beni Mellal-Khenifra region, the party endorsed Abdul Ali Broki for the Azilal-Demnat district and also chose Shadi Boulon for the Tan-Tan district. However, the significance of this endorsement round lies not only in the number of names announced but also in the **political choices underlying them**. Attracting candidates with prior experiences in other parties, especially those within the government majority, indicates that electoral competition is beginning to assert itself within the governing coalition before reaching the ballot boxes.
This point is particularly important given that the parties forming the governmental majority are also preparing for the same electoral event. This situation suggests that numerous local districts may become battlegrounds for candidates belonging to political groups that are theoretically aligned within the government majority, yet enter the elections with different strategic calculations governed by seat distribution, local influence, and the ability to mobilize voters.
From this perspective, the movements of the Istiqlal Party appear to be more about **re-engineering its local electoral presence** by maintaining the party's traditional names while also welcoming new faces with established electoral networks and field presence outside the conventional organizational structure. This strategy allows the party to expand its maneuvering space in districts that require candidates capable of engaging in strong electoral competition, rather than relying solely on internal organizational nominations.
This dynamic occurs within a political context where parties are gradually transitioning from internal preparation to testing their power balances on the ground. As the September 23 election date approaches, the candidate selection process evolves from an organizational decision to a key factor in shaping local alliances, attracting influential figures, and redistributing power centers within various districts.
The party's recourse to the ethics and conduct committee for candidate vetting adds an organizational dimension to this process, as the leadership seeks to present nominations as outcomes of an internal institutional process rather than mere responses to local electoral pressures. This approach grants the leadership greater control over candidate selections, particularly during a phase when competition within the party itself may widen regarding who has the right to run and who possesses the greatest electoral chances.
The second endorsement round simultaneously reveals that the battle for Istiqlal will not only be managed from within the party but will also be influenced by the leadership's ability to reshape its local map and attract individuals capable of altering competitive dynamics in specific districts.
Future endorsement rounds are expected to yield clearer indicators regarding the party's electoral vision, especially in districts characterized by overlapping electoral ambitions among candidates from the majority parties. As the election date draws nearer, the distribution of nominations within these districts will become increasingly sensitive, potentially presenting the governing coalition parties with a challenging test of how to balance governmental coexistence with electoral competition.
Thus, the endorsement process does not merely serve as an organizational procedure to cover electoral districts; rather, it represents one of the initial battlegrounds for actual electoral conflict. Parties that successfully finalize their candidates early will have more time to build their local campaigns, organize their networks, attract influential players, and gauge voter trends before entering the official campaign period.
The Istiqlal Party positions this process as part of a trajectory aimed at selecting candidates who meet criteria of competence, integrity, and merit, capable of representing citizens and advocating for their issues, while emphasizing principles linking responsibility with accountability.
However, what future endorsements reveal will be more significant than the organizational data itself: **Will the party succeed in transforming these endorsements into actual electoral power? Will attracting figures from majority parties strengthen its position within the coalition, or will it expand competition among its components before the electoral day?**
These questions will gradually find answers as the parties' electoral maps are completed, and competition shifts from the offices of political organizations to the districts that will ultimately determine the power dynamics within the next parliament.
As reported by kechpresse.com.
