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Abdelilah Benkirane has been re-elected as Secretary-General of Morocco’s Justice and Development Party (PJD) during its ninth national congress held today in Bouznika.
Benkirane secured 69% of the vote, winning 994 out of 1,402 ballots cast. His closest rival, Idriss Azami Idrissi, garnered 394 votes, while Abdellah Bouanou, head of the party’s parliamentary group, finished a distant third with 42 votes.
The re-election is Benkirane’s second consecutive term after first being reinstated in 2021 following the party’s crushing defeat in the general elections that year. Once a dominant political force, the PJD had led Morocco’s government for two terms before its dramatic collapse at the polls.
Speaking after his victory, Benkirane revealed he had received a “special congratulation” from Abdel Salam Haniyeh, son of late Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh.
The vote saw a turnout of 1,402 delegates, with 12 invalid ballots and 1,390 valid votes counted, according to the conference chair, Jamaâ El Moatassim.
Several prominent figures, including Abdelaziz El Omari, Jamaâ El Moatassim, and Abdelali Hamieddine, had earlier withdrawn from the leadership race.
Benkirane is expected to present the list of new members of the party’s General Secretariat in the coming hours for approval by the National Council, per the PJD’s internal procedures.
