PAM wins most seats in Morocco but lacks a majority

Morocco’s Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) won the most seats in parliamentary elections, taking 97 of 395 in provisional results, but fell far short of a majority and will need other parties to form a government. The National Rally of Independents (RNI) won 66 seats, Istiqlal took 65 and the Justice and Development Party (PJD) secured 54. King Mohammed VI appoints the next head of government from the party that finishes first, placing PAM at the start of the government-formation process. A majority in the House of Representatives requires 198 seats. PAM, RNI and Istiqlal together hold 228 seats in the provisional count, enough to govern if they renew their outgoing coalition. Whether they will do so remains unresolved, and the reported results do not establish which parties will join the next government. The PJD made the sharpest recovery, rising from 13 seats in 2021 to 54. The RNI, which led the outgoing government, fell from 102 seats to 66, while Istiqlal dropped from 81 to 65. The shifts changed the relative strength of the major parties, though PAM’s 97 seats do not give it control of parliament on its own.