Parliamentary election in Morocco 2016

Justice and Development Party (PJD; 125 seats)

Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM; 102 seats)

Istiqlal (PI; 46 seats)

National Collection of Independents (RNI; 37 seats)

Popular Movement (MP; 27 seats)

Socialist Union of People's Forces (USFP; 20 seats)

Constitutional Union (UC; 19 seats)

Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS; 12 seats)

Others (7 seats)

The second parliamentary election in Morocco after the constitutional amendment and the parliamentary election of 2011 took place on October 7, 2016 .

prehistory

In the parliamentary elections, which are planned every 5 years according to the constitution, a total of 395 parliamentary seats are awarded, 305 of them via party lists in 92 electoral districts. The other 90 seats are selected from a so-called “national list”, which is reserved for women (60 seats) and for MPs younger than 40 years (30 seats).

choice

October 7, 2016 as the election date was announced by the government in January 2016. August 8, 2016 was set as the deadline for entries in the electoral lists. The official period for the election campaign has also been determined - from September 24 to October 6, 2016.

Of around 15.7 million registered voters, 42.29% voted on the 395 parliamentary seats to be allocated. While the total number of registered voters rose significantly compared to the last election, the percentage turnout fell slightly. 24 parties or national lists ran for elections, 7 fewer than in the previous parliamentary election.

Election result

The party for Justice and Development (PJD) with 125 seats (plus 18 seats) was again the strongest party, ahead of the Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM) with 102 seats (plus 55 seats). They were also the only parties that were able to significantly strengthen their result compared to the previous distribution of seats, while most of the other parties lost seats significantly.

	Expression	Leading head	Results 2011	Results 2016
Justice and Development Party (PJD)	Conservatism , Islamism , economic liberalism	Saadeddine Othmani Abdelillah Benkirane	22.8% of the vote 107 seats	27.9% of the vote 125 seats
Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM)	loyal to the king, progressive	Ilyas El Omari	11.1% of the vote 47 seats	21.0% of the vote 102 seats
Istiqlal or "Party of Independence" (PI)	Conservatism , nationalism	Abdelhamid Chabat (former Prime Minister)	11.9% of the vote 60 seats	10.7% of the vote 46 seats
National Association of Independents (RNI)	Liberalism , center-right	Aziz Akhannouch	11.3% of the vote 52 seats	9.4% of the vote 37 seats
Popular Movement (MP)	Royalism , representation of rural areas	Mohand Laenser	7.5% of the vote 32 seats	6.9% of the vote 27 seats
Socialist Union of People's Forces (USFP)	Social democracy	Driss Lachgar	8.6% of the vote 39 seats	6.2% of the vote 20 seats
Constitutional Union (UC)	Royalism, conservatism , economic liberalism	Mohammed Sajid	5.8% of the vote 23 seats	4.7% of the vote 19 seats
Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS)	socialism	Mohamed Nabil Benabdallah	5.7% of the vote 18 seats	4.5% of the vote 12 seats
Democratic and Social Movement (MDS)	Conservatism	Abdessamad Archane	x, x% of the vote 2 seats	1.4% of the vote 3 seats
Federation of the Democratic Left (FGD)	socialism	(No)	0.0% of the vote 0 seats	2.8% of the vote 2 seats
Party of Unity and Democracy (PUD)	socialism	Ahmed Fitri	x, x% of the votes 1 seat	0.4% of the votes 1 seat
Left Moroccan Green Party (PGVM)	Socialism , Green Politics	Mohammed Fares	x, x% of the votes 1 seat	0.4% of the votes 1 seat

Government formation

According to the constitution, King Mohammed VI. the leader of the party with the most votes with the formation of a government. The previous Prime Minister Abdelillah Benkirane immediately began negotiations to form a new coalition government, but had to admit his failure in February. On March 15, 2017, he was therefore by Mohammed VI. officially dismissed as head of government, and two days later his party colleague Saadeddine Othmani was entrusted with forming a government. Just one week later, on March 25, Othmani announced the successful formation of a coalition. It is the continuation of the previous coalition with the inclusion of the USFP as the new ruling party. On April 5, 2017, the new government was officially confirmed by the king.