Football, Ceuta and Israel policy shape Morocco's parliamentary vote

Morocco votes on Wednesday in parliamentary elections contested by 27 parties for 395 seats in the House of Representatives. Although the country is a constitutional monarchy, executive power remains closely tied to the crown: King Mohammed VI appoints the prime minister from the winning party but also chairs the Council of Ministers, the top policy-making body.

The vote follows a summer in which roughly 60,000 people attempted to swim from Morocco to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, with at least 100 people dying in the crossing attempt. The IMF estimates overall unemployment at 13% last year, while youth unemployment among 15-24 year-olds reached 37.3%.

The campaign also comes after Gen Z protests erupted in September 2025 over unemployment, healthcare and living costs, leading to prosecution of more than 2,400 people. Some former protesters are now running for parliament themselves, hoping to build a political base ahead of 2031.

Fouzi Lekjaa, head of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, has emerged as a political sensation after joining the centrist Party of Authenticity and Modernity, promising to lift education and healthcare to sixth in the world to match the men's football team's FIFA ranking. Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch's party has renewed its pledge to create a million jobs by 2031, a promise experts view sceptically.

The Islamist Justice and Development Party is campaigning on ending diplomatic ties with Israel, normalised in 2020. Despite large pro-Palestinian protests in Rabat during the Gaza war, Israel and Morocco announced earlier this month that they had agreed to open full embassies in each other's countries.

More than half of Morocco's 38.8 million population is under 35, yet only 4% of registered voters are aged 18-24, reflecting widespread disillusionment among young people with the political process.