Polling stations open their doors at eight in the morning (08:00 GMT) and close at seven in the evening (19:00 GMT) today, Wednesday (September 23, 2026), to elect a new parliament in Morocco. Preliminary results are usually announced the day after the elections.
More than seven thousand candidates are competing for the votes of about 16 million voters, out of about 36 million Moroccans, to choose 395 representatives. The turnout rate, especially among young people, is one of the most prominent indicators of these elections.
"Post-Arab Spring Constitution"
King Mohammed VI will appoint a prime minister from the winning party, who will be tasked with forming a government.
The constitution, which was approved in the context of the “Arab Spring” in 2011, grants broad powers to Parliament and the government, but strategic decisions remain in the hands of the king, who gives his directives on most public policies.
Issues of purchasing power, social disparities, and youth unemployment dominated the electoral campaign, while the low registration rates for this group in the electoral lists reflected their declining confidence in political parties.
Social inequalities have been a major dilemma in Morocco for about a decade. It emerged again in a deeper way with the flow of tens of thousands of migrants across the border into the enclave of Ceuta, which is under Spanish sovereignty, at the end of July.
This crisis, which left dozens of victims, did not receive much space in the electoral debate, while former Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane considered it a “black day” and a “major scandal” during the campaign of his Justice and Development Party (opposition).
On the other hand, the National Rally of Liberals defended the outcome of the coalition government it headed, with the participation of the Authenticity and Modernity and Independence parties and independent ministers, calling on voters to renew confidence in it.
"Palace parties"?
In the absence of opinion polls, observers and local media place the three parties, especially the National Rally of Independents and the Authenticity and Modernity Party, in the lead.
Despite relinquishing the presidency of the National Rally of Independents in February, Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch returned to lead his party's campaign, praising the steadfastness of the economy despite the repercussions of the war in Ukraine and the Middle East, and "strengthening the pillars of the social state."
At an election rally on Sunday in Tetouan (north), he noted “reforms in health and education and raising wages,” and promised one million job opportunities. But this wealthy businessman faces accusations of a conflict of interest between his position and his ownership of Africa Gas, the fuel giant in Morocco.
Criticism against him reached its peak last fall when the “Generation Z212” movement, launched by anonymous activists online, demanded his departure and reforms in the health and education sectors. The demonstrations, which were called for almost daily for two weeks, included acts of vandalism and clashes in several cities, resulting in the deaths of three people, before their momentum declined.
After he was a major partner of the National Rally of Liberals in the government, the Authenticity and Modernity Party has emerged in recent months as its main opponent, although the two parties are not separated by ideological differences, and both were founded in circles close to the palace.
Both parties are betting on candidates, "notables" as they are described in Morocco, who employ close relationships with the residents of their constituencies, regardless of the political discourse of their parties.
The Authenticity and Modernity Party suffered from the absence of a clear leader, as it is run by three officials, most notably the Minister of National Territorial Preparation and Construction and the Mayor of Marrakesh, Fatima Zahraa Mansouri, who is nominated by some media outlets to be the first woman to head the government. The party's image was also damaged by the conviction of two of its former prominent leaders in an international drug trafficking case in June, to 10 and 12 years in prison.
Election campaigns
Weeks before the elections, the party attracted a newcomer to its ranks, the Minister of Budget and President of the Moroccan Football Federation, Faouzi Lakjaa, who is popular with football fans, but without political experience.
Lakjaa led part of his new party's campaign in several cities, criticizing the "conflict of interests" of the National Rally of Liberals, and pledging to "raise purchasing power" and "make youth a force capable of adding value."
As for the Istiqlal Party, it ran a campaign without controversy with its two partners in the government, pledging to create a “rupture” and fight “corruption and conflicts of interest.” He is usually considered one of the candidates to compete for advanced ranks.
The Justice and Development Party is betting on a surprise, after a resounding defeat in 2021. Its leader, Abdelilah Benkirane, led daily rallies in several cities in which he harshly criticized the National Rally of Liberals over a “conflict of interest,” while accusing the Authenticity and Modernity Party of wanting to “control” political life.
But Benkirane, who headed the government between 2011 and 2016, regained a conservative discourse warning against “targeting the family,” “legitimizing consensual sexual relations,” and “equality of inheritance” between the sexes.
