Morocco: Authenticity Party Leads Elections; Al-Mansouri Nominated for Prime Minister

The center-left liberal party, Authenticity and Modernity (PAM), won the largest number of seats in Morocco’s parliamentary elections held yesterday. The vote was dominated by livelihood issues but recorded a turnout of approximately 38.02 percent, the lowest in nearly two decades.

The party is led by a collective tripartite leadership comprising Fatima Zahra Mansouri, Minister of National Land Planning and Urban Development and Mayor of Marrakech; Fatima El Saadi; and Mohamed Mady Benabid. Some Moroccan media outlets have speculated that Mansouri could become the first woman to head the government and the second female prime minister in the Arab region, following Tunisia’s Najla Bouden.

For its part, the National Rally of Independents (RNI), which leads the current governing coalition, slipped to second place, apparently affected by the “Gen Z 212” protests. Meanwhile, the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), led by Abdelilah Benkirane, topped the opposition ranks by securing 54 seats, a significant rebound after a crushing defeat in the previous elections when it won only 13 seats.