Join on WhatsApp 
Join on Telegram Rabat – Morocco’s Interior Ministry has announced that based on 96% of the ballots counted, the results of the 2021 Moroccan legislative elections appear to be a victory for the National Rally of Independents (RNI).
The decade-long government of the Justice and Development Party (PJD) has ended in spectacular fashion as the party won only 12 seats in the 2021 legislative elections in Morocco. The remaining three large parties in the race scooped up the PJD’s supporters after ten years which appears to have left voters disillusioned.
Moroccans expressed their displeasure with the PJD’s performance by voting instead for the RNI, which won 97 seats, and the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), which ended with a surprising 82 seats. The conservative Istiqlal (Independence) Party closed out the pack with 78 seats.
Winners
RNI
The “Rassemblement National des Indépendants” (RNI) was created back in 1978 by independent members of parliament without a political affiliation. Considering its close ties to the palace upon its creation, the RNI had struggled to change its image to the Moroccan electorate.
Long considered a “party of the establishment,” RNI recently undertook a large-scale rebranding effort, primarily financed by its current Secretary General, prime ministerial candidate, and billionaire, Aziz Akhannouch.
RNI deployed an estimated $211,000 on Facebook and Instagram ads for its campaign since March 11, 2021.
The party has officially broken the mold for Moroccan political campaigns, proving that social media can provide a powerful political tool for hopeful politicians in modern day Morocco.
RNI’s sweeping victory will put technocratic ideology to the test. After running a campaign heavily dependent on the promise of job creation and economic prosperity, the billionaire prime minister-elect faces high expectations to deliver on King Mohammed VI’s vision of a “better” Morocco.
PAM
The Progress And Modernity party is considered by many Moroccans as the “king’s party,” compared to the more reformist rhetoric of PJD and the Moroccan left. Founded by Fouad Ali El-Himma, Mohammed VI’s closest adviser, the party was for long made up of wealthy career politicians and businessmen.
PAM has remained in the government opposition since its creation.
In May 2019, current Secretary General Abdellatif Ouahbi pushed for the inclusion of more young people into PAM, resulting in El Himma’s party having one of the highest percentages of young candidates for the 2021 election.
Ouahbi’s strategy has proven to be successful, as the once infamous “king’s party” steadily rallied public support behind its young, highly educated, social media savvy candidates.
Despite a relatively modest virtual campaign on its social platforms, PAM was able to garner support from Morocco’s most apolitical young voters, by using social media as a direct platform to reach out to their constituency.
PAM’s biggest selling point during this year’s election was its emphasis on never having been in control of government in Morocco’s history.
This election’s results will demonstrate whether PAM’s leftist, sometimes progressive ideals will stand the test of a mixed government and all too familiar “political compromise.”
Istiqlal
The Istiqlal party emerged in the midst of Morocco’s fight for independence from French imperial rule. The Moroccan conservative party led a coalition government under Abbas El Fassi from 19 September 2007 to 29 November 2011. It has been part of the official opposition in parliament since 2013.
Led by Nizar Baraka, Istiqlal decided to reappoint many of its successful candidates from 2016.
For this year’s election, Istiqlal has recruited candidates from a variety of rival political coalitions.
Experts retained high hopes for Morocco’s oldest party in this year’s election, considering its far reaching character and its influential communal leaders.
Istiglal’s approach of using veteran politicians and strong local political networks presented a challenge to the youth-oriented approach of the PAM and the largest scale social media campaign of the RNI. While the party cemented its position, it did not achieve the victory it had hoped as it faced stiff competition from parties attempting more innovative approaches.
While the Istiglal party certainly is in a stronger position vis-a-vis its rival PJD, the coming coalition talks should determine what role the party will play in the next five years.
Losers
PJD
With its “Arab-Spring”-fueled rise to power, the conservative Islamist Justice and Development party (PJD) held power in Morocco since 2011. Elected on an anti-corruption agenda, PJD alienated large segments of its constituency following a decade of unfulfilled campaign promises.
Led by current prime minister Saad Eddine El Othmani, PJD’s loss was foreshadowed following disastrous professional election results and revisions to the Moroccan electoral quotient.
After leading two successive Moroccan governments, the PJD saw their support crumble in the 2021 legislative elections. The writing had been on the wall in March as a new electoral quotient was introduced, which allocated seats based on the total number of registered voters instead of the number of voters in the election. The initiative was supported by all political parties except for the PJD.
After a decade in charge, the PJD’s fall from grace appears to be a public rebuttal of its policies and public communication, with a stunning 86 constituencies lost nationwide since the last election, according to current numbers presented by the Interior Ministry.
