The Authenticity and Modernity Party leads the legislative elections in Morocco with preliminary results

The Authenticity and Modernity Party, participating in the outgoing government, topped the legislative elections held Wednesday in Morocco, winning 97 seats, according to preliminary results announced by Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit, at dawn on Thursday.

The National Rally of Liberals, leader of the current government coalition, came in second place with 66 seats, followed by the Istiqlal Party in third place with 65 seats, while the Islamic Justice and Development Party (opposition) came in fourth place with 54 seats.

King Mohammed VI is expected to choose a person from the winning party to form a coalition government for five years.

The elections witnessed a boycott by the Justice and Charity Group, the largest political Islam movement in the Kingdom, saying that the conditions for free and fair political competition were “not available.” It also justified its decision by the inability of the parties to implement their political programs or form an independent government under the existing political system, according to the group.

Moroccans voted on Wednesday to choose a new parliament that would form a government for five years, in elections that were dominated by issues of purchasing power, unemployment, and social disparities, but they recorded a participation rate that did not exceed 39 percent, which is the lowest since the 2007 elections, in which only 37 percent of those registered on the electoral lists participated.

Issues of purchasing power, social inequalities and youth unemployment dominated the election campaign.

More than seven thousand candidates competed for the votes of about 16 million eligible to vote, out of about 36 million Moroccans, to choose 395 representatives.

Unemployment is among the most important Moroccan street issues. According to official statistics, the unemployment rate among young people in Morocco is about 27 percent, which is the highest among other age groups in the Kingdom, while the overall unemployment rate in Morocco recorded 9.5 percent during the second quarter of 2026.

These legislative elections in Morocco come weeks after at least 70,000 people, most of them Moroccans, risked a failed attempt to cross to Europe via Ceuta, the Spanish border enclave with Morocco, in what observers attributed to economic difficulties.

These elections are also the first ballot in the Kingdom of Morocco after the protests of what was known in the media as the “Generation Z212 movement” last year. These elections also coincide with conflicts raging in the Middle East, most notably the war with Iran.