Marrakech – The Progress and Socialism Party (PPS) has brought its group in the House of Representatives to 22 members, after three women lawmakers joined its ranks under a political agreement.
The three are Hanane Zmizem, elected on the New Democrats Party (PND) ticket in the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima regional constituency, along with Dounia Ezzahir and Nadia Nouam, both of the Front of Democratic Forces (FFD).
The expansion addresses a shortfall from the September 23 legislative elections. PPS won 19 seats in the final official results, down from 22 in 2021, leaving it one short of the 20 seats required to form a parliamentary group.
The party first closed that gap by integrating Zmizem, the sole PND winner, before concluding a separate agreement with the FFD for its two members. With the three additions, the group returns to the size it held during the previous 2021-2026 legislature.
The realignment was formalized in a joint communiqué issued in Rabat on October 9. In it, PPS, the FFD, and the PND announced a joint parliamentary group for the twelfth legislature, 2026-2031, to carry out “oversight, legislation, public policy evaluation, as well as parliamentary diplomacy.”
The three parties framed the move as a “unitary initiative” meant to raise the quality of parliamentary work, while pledging full respect for “the independence, identity, and reference” of each party. The statement carried the signatures of PPS Secretary-General Nabil Benabdallah, Mustapha Benali of the FFD, and Mohamed Darif of the PND.
The agreement reshuffled an earlier plan. The FFD, the Equity Party (PE), the PND, and the Unity and Democracy Party (PUD) had agreed to form a common parliamentary grouping, divided as two seats for the FFD, two for Equity, one for the PND, and one for the PUD. Zmizem’s decision to join PPS, followed by the two FFD lawmakers, unraveled that arrangement.
The move comes as PPS weighs joining the government that Fatima-Zahra El Mansouri has been tasked with forming. Received in the first round of consultations on September 30, Benabdallah reported points of convergence with the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) but tied his party’s position to the program and composition of the future majority.
On October 6, the central committee met in an extraordinary session and unanimously mandated the political bureau to pursue the talks and decide on participation.
A majority built around the PAM and the Koutla – the Istiqlal, the USFP, and the PPS – would hold 210 seats, rising to 239 if the Popular Movement (MP) joins. Its composition is expected this weekend, according to Ahmed Touizi, a member of the PAM’s political bureau, as reported by Médias24.
