CASABLANCA, September 22 — Morocco votes on Wednesday in parliamentary elections that will decide who governs through the run-up to the 2030 FIFA World Cup, and, more immediately, who answers for the grievances that brought crowds into the streets nearly a year ago. It is the first national ballot since the Gen Z-led protests erupted, and since the mass border crossing into the Spanish territory of Ceuta in July left dozens dead.
Those two events hang over a campaign that has otherwise been fought on the cost and quality of daily life. Voters in Casablanca and across the kingdom name jobs, wages, inequality, housing, schools, hospitals and infrastructure as their priorities.
The numbers on offer are substantial. A total of 7,288 candidates from 27 political parties are competing for 395 seats.
No majority, so a coalition
No single party is expected to capture an absolute majority, which means the top-performing party will have to assemble a coalition. Under Morocco’s constitution, the king chooses the prime minister from the party that finishes first, and the palace traditionally keeps key portfolios such as defense and foreign affairs under royal control. That arrangement shapes what any incoming government can actually promise.
Hamish Kinnear, a U.K.-based risk analyst focusing on North Africa and the Middle East, put the constraint plainly. “The government’s overall policy platform is set by a circle of advisers close to the king, who retains ultimate power,” he said.
The governing coalition’s RNI party has promised a guaranteed monthly minimum wage of 5,000 dirhams (about US$525) and the creation of 1 million jobs. Another coalition member, PAM, said it would exempt salaries below 15,000 dirhams (about US$1,575) from taxes and pledged 100,000 housing solutions for young people. Elsewhere on the ballot, the Istiqlal Party wants to speed up treatment at public hospitals.
The opposition left-wing PPS aims to cut the school dropout rate in half and tighten anti-corruption rules. The moderate Islamist PJD party aims to narrow economic disparities between major hubs like Casablanca and other regions.
A football federation president on the trail
One candidate has drawn particular attention. Faouzi Lekjaa, president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and a member of the political bureau of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), took part in an electoral rally in Benslimane on Sunday. A soccer boss could even emerge as prime minister.
The next government will oversee billions of dollars in investment as Morocco prepares to co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup, prompting some to call it the “World Cup government.” The economic backdrop is not uniformly bleak. Morocco’s economy is growing and attracting foreign investment, new industries are developing, and the kingdom has become Africa’s most-visited destination.
It is a close U.S. ally, maintains strong ties with Western capitals, and is among the few Arab countries with diplomatic relations with Israel. Yet development remains uneven, economic growth is not creating enough jobs, and 12.7% of Moroccans live in relative poverty. Many young Moroccans say they have heard such promises before.
What to watch next is straightforward. The count will establish which party leads, and the king’s choice of prime minister from that party will set the shape of the coalition talks.
The harder question, for a government inheriting both a World Cup build-out and the memory of last year’s protests, is whether the wage, tax and housing pledges survive contact with a palace that keeps the decisive portfolios.
