Morocco Votes For New Parliament As Youth Politics And Migration Take Centre Stage
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The Arab Post
- . September 23, 2026
- . Update: September 24, 2026 3:41 pm
Morocco went to the polls on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, to elect a new House of Representatives, Morocco parliament elections, its sixth legislative election since King Mohammed VI’s accession and the fourth since the constitutional reforms that followed the 2011 Arab Spring. Polling stations opened at 8 am and closed at 7 pm, with more than 15.8 million registered voters eligible to cast their ballots.
What Is At Stake
All 395 seats in the lower house of parliament were contested, with 305 elected through local constituencies and 90 reserved for women through regional lists. A total of 27 to 28 political parties fielded over 7,200 candidates across roughly 1,850 candidate lists. A party or coalition needs 198 seats to form a majority government.
Youth Disillusionment At The Heart Of The Campaign
The election unfolded against the backdrop of last year’s youth-led protests and a mass attempted border rush into Spain’s Ceuta enclave in July, both widely seen as expressions of frustration over unemployment and limited opportunity among Morocco’s young population. While voters aged 18 to 24 make up around 4 per cent of the registered electorate despite representing a far larger share of the population, parties made youth outreach central to their campaigns.
The National Rally of Independents (RNI) and the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), both seen as close to the palace, pledged to create around one million jobs in the next parliamentary term and pointed to roughly $20 billion in infrastructure investment tied to the 2030 World Cup, which Morocco will co-host with Spain and Portugal.
Mohamed Masbah, head of the Moroccan Institute for Policy Analysis, described the Ceuta rush as a new form of protest, one where citizens sought “a physical exit from Moroccan politics altogether.”
Key Parties And Contenders
Going into the vote, Aziz Akhannouch’s RNI held the most seats from the 2021 election with 102, followed by PAM with 87 and the Istiqlal Party with 81, the three parties that formed the outgoing coalition government. The Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), which governed Morocco from 2011 to 2021, is looking to recover after collapsing to single digits in the last election, with former Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane again leading the party’s campaign.
Turnout Seen As The Real Test
Turnout stood at 50.35 per cent in 2021 and 42.29 per cent in 2016, and analysts say this year’s figure will matter as much as the seat count itself. The banned but influential Islamist movement Al Adl Wal Ihsane, which does not contest elections, has called for abstention, adding further pressure on turnout among an electorate already showing signs of disengagement from parliamentary politics.
What Happens Next – Morocco parliament elections
Vote counting began immediately after polls closed, with provisional results expected from Morocco’s Ministry of Interior late on election night or on September 24. Final certified results will follow after any local appeals are resolved, after which the process of forming the next government will begin. The outcome is expected to shape Morocco’s approach to pressing priorities including job creation, its Western Sahara autonomy plan, and preparations for the 2030 World Cup.
Summary: Morocco held legislative elections on September 23, 2026, choosing all 395 seats of its House of Representatives. The vote comes a year after youth-led protests and a mass migration attempt at Spain’s Ceuta enclave exposed deep frustration among young Moroccans over jobs and opportunity.
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