Morocco government allies feud ahead of elections — Al Jazeera
In Morocco, parties in the ruling coalition are trading accusations and competing for candidates even before the official start of the election campaign on September 10. Elections to the House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament, are scheduled for September 23. According to Al Jazeera English, on the first day of candidate nominations, the country’s Interior Ministry received 702 lists from 27 political parties.
About 15.8 million voters are registered for the election. Morocco’s population, according to the 2024 census, is 36.8 million, while the number of people of voting age is estimated at about 25 million.
Dispute within the coalition
The current government coalition is made up of the National Rally of Independents, the Authenticity and Modernity Party, and the Istiqlal Party. They are partners in government, but at the same time compete for votes, parliamentary seats, candidates and political influence.
Tensions between the National Rally of Independents and the Authenticity and Modernity Party were exposed by a leaked audio recording attributed to House of Representatives Speaker Rachid Talbi Alami, one of the leading figures of the National Rally of Independents. The recording was circulated after the party accused the Authenticity and Modernity Party of recruiting its elected representatives and candidates.
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In the recording, a voice attributed to Talbi Alami criticizes Minister Delegate for the Budget Fouzi Lekjaa without naming him directly and warns against him receiving the economy and finance portfolio in a future government. Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch said that intra-party discussions are part of political debate and that the priority should be winning the election rather than distributing posts in advance. Lekjaa also rejected discussing posts before the vote.
Battle for parliament
In the 2021 election, the National Rally of Independents won 102 seats, the Authenticity and Modernity Party won 87, and Istiqlal won 81. The party that comes first in the House of Representatives election will be in the strongest position to form a government: under the Constitution, the king appoints the head of government from that political force. At the same time, the winner will need to reach an agreement with other parties on a coalition capable of securing support in parliament.
The opposition Justice and Development Party governed Morocco for two consecutive terms from 2011 to 2021. In the previous election, its parliamentary representation fell from 125 to 13 seats. The party criticizes the government over prices, employment, public services and alleged conflicts of interest.
Campaign issues
The expected key campaign issues include the cost of living, employment, healthcare and education. The government’s 2021–2026 program envisaged the creation of at least 1 million net jobs. According to Medias24, the net increase by the end of 2025 was about 95,000, while the government reported 850,000 jobs created outside agriculture in 2021–2025.
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