PREVIEW
Winning 97 seats puts PAM first in coalition talks, but alienated voters and resurgent Islamist opposition muddies the organisation of a World Cup-era government
Stability and apathy were the main themes of September’s elections. The latter will displease King Mohammed VI, who had hoped that voters would regard the elections as meaningful (AC Vol 67 No 17, Mohammed VI faces a turnout test).
Yet turnout slumped from 50% to 38%, with few major changes expected in the next government. The Parti Authenticité et Modernité (PAM) topped the poll with 97 of the 395 seats, bolstered by the recruitment of Fouzi Lekjaa, Morocco's football federation chief and two-time government budget manager, who joined the party in the final weeks of the campaign.
FIFA has not formally confirmed that Morocco, one of the co-hosts for the 2030 World Cup, will host the final. But Lekjaa’s profile has rocketed as FIFA President Gianni Infantino tries to cling on to the job amid mass opposition to his plans to sell off stakes of the World Cup to private investors.
Alongside his role in football administration, hosting a major FIFA office in Rabat, Lekjaa has been credited with the Moroccan team’s emergence among the world’s elite and is seen as a strong contender for the prime minister’s post (AC Vol 67 No 2, Sublime and ridiculous).
The Islamist Parti de la Justice et du Développement (PJD), which governed for a decade after 2011, rebounded to 54 seats, after collapsing to 13 in the previous election, was buoyed by the return of party leader and former Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane (AC Vol 62 No 22, The PJD loses its base). It will stay in opposition alongside the conservative nationalist Istiqlal Party which secured 65 seats.
Officials in Rabat want to rebuild relations with the European Union that have been strained by the mass border crossing in July at Ceuta, one of the two Spanish enclaves in North Africa. Several Brussels-based journalists are being bombarded with offers to interview Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and Ahmed Chami, Morocco’s new EU ambassador who took office in May.
Copyright © Africa Confidential 2026
https://www.africa-confidential.com
Prepared for Free Article on 27/09/2026 at 23:23. Authorized users may download, save, and print articles for their own use, but may not further disseminate these articles in their electronic form without express written permission from Africa Confidential / Asempa Limited. Contact subscriptions@africa-confidential.com.
