RABAT, September 23 — Morocco’s Justice and Development Party is attempting a comeback under the man who once led its government, and the stakes reach well beyond one party’s fortunes. Abdelilah Benkirane, head of government from 2012 to 2017, now leads the PJD as it seeks to recover from a collapse that reshaped Moroccan politics.
The party went from being the main political beneficiary of Morocco’s post-2011 reforms to winning just 13 of 395 parliamentary seats in the September 2021 election — a loss of 112 seats from its 2016 result. The arc of that decline is a study in how quickly the calculus can shift.
In the November 2011 election, held after protests that year called for political reform, greater accountability and a more responsive government, the PJD won 107 seats, and Benkirane became head of government. Morocco’s 2011 constitutional changes expanded the formal powers of Parliament and government while retaining significant authority for the monarchy. The king appoints the head of government from the party that comes first in the House of Representatives, and chairs the Council of Ministers, where strategic orientations of state policy are considered.
Five years later, the PJD increased its seats to 125 — but Benkirane spent months unable to form a governing coalition. In March 2017, King Mohammed VI ended his mandate and appointed Saadeddine Othmani to replace him.
The PJD remained in government until its electoral collapse four years later. In September 2021, the party fell from 125 seats to 13. The National Rally of Independents won 102 seats and became the largest party.
A personal brand, and its limits
Benkirane remains one of Morocco’s most recognisable political figures. A recent Al Jazeera Studies analysis describes him as a political “brand” whose long public career, media presence and direct communication style have created a personal profile that can function as electoral capital for the party. It examines whether his visibility and personal appeal can help the PJD rebuild after its 2021 collapse.
But his return does not by itself show that the PJD has rebuilt its support. The party lost 112 seats in 2021; its task now is to turn the attention generated by its leader into support for the party itself.
The programme
The PJD’s 2026 programme contains 467 measures across five broad areas: identity and family; political and institutional reform; public services and social protection; the economy and employment; and foreign policy. It calls for greater transparency in public procurement, rules addressing conflicts of interest and illicit enrichment, and improvements to public services. It also highlights housing, social protection, food, water and energy sovereignty.
Its programme foregrounds practical issues such as prices, jobs, schools, hospitals and corruption. Saad al-Sabahi, 38, who works with the PJD’s regional secretariat in Casablanca-Settat, said the programme was developed through studies, consultation meetings and proposals submitted through an online platform.
“These commitments cover a range of sectors and areas affecting the lives of the Moroccan people,” he told Al Jazeera, pointing to political participation, fighting corruption, public education, healthcare, employment and economic sovereignty. What this signals is a party betting that its leader’s visibility can substitute for the organisational depth it lost. Whether that bet pays off will be settled at the ballot box in 2026.
