RABAT, September 25, 2026 (DAILYNWZ) — Morocco’s centrist Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) emerged as the largest force in Wednesday’s legislative election, winning 97 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives, while the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) staged a sharp comeback, according to preliminary results announced by Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit.
The result leaves PAM at the center of negotiations over Morocco’s next government, but short of the 198 seats needed for a parliamentary majority. Under the Constitution, the head of government is appointed by the King from the party that wins the most seats, meaning PAM is positioned to lead the coalition-building process.
The National Rally of Independents (RNI), a centrist party that led the outgoing coalition, finished second with 66 seats, followed by the conservative nationalist Istiqlal Party with 65. The PJD won 54 seats, up from just 13 in 2021, after the return of former prime minister Abdelilah Benkirane to the party leadership.
PAM’s rise was accompanied by the arrival of Fouzi Lekjaa, president of Morocco’s football federation and a senior government budget official, who joined the party weeks before the election. Reuters reported that Lekjaa is widely associated with the development of Morocco’s national football programme and preparations for the 2030 World Cup, which Morocco will co-host with Spain and Portugal. His name has since emerged in reporting about possible candidates to head the next government, alongside PAM leader Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri.
The next government will oversee the final stages of preparations for the 2030 World Cup, including major infrastructure investment, while confronting economic and social pressures around jobs, wages and the cost of living. PAM campaigned on a programme that included $37 billion in spending and investment and a pledge to create one million jobs.
The election also marked a significant return for the PJD, which governed Morocco for two consecutive terms after the 2011 constitutional reforms before suffering a major defeat in 2021. Benkirane said after the vote that the Islamist party would remain in opposition, according to Reuters.
Turnout was 38.08%, according to the Interior Ministry’s preliminary results, compared with 50.86% in 2021 and 42.27% in 2016. Nearly six million voters cast ballots from a registered electorate of about 15.8 million. Participation was substantially higher in the southern regions, reaching 77% in Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra, 61% in Dakhla-Oued Eddahab and 53.48% in Guelmim-Oued Noun.
The Interior Ministry said voting took place under normal conditions nationwide, apart from isolated incidents that did not affect the overall conduct of the election. A total of 3,006 observers monitored the process, including 200 foreign observers from organisations across Africa, Europe, North America, Latin America and the Middle East.
The results leave coalition negotiations as the immediate political task. PAM had criticized its previous partnership with RNI during the campaign, but party leader El Mansouri said after the vote that there would be no “red lines” in negotiations, Reuters reported.
The election involved 28 political parties, 1,847 candidate lists and 7,277 candidates competing for the 395 seats. Women accounted for 2,659 candidacies, about 37% of the total, including 120 women heading local lists.