2021 Elections: RNI Positions Itself as Leading Political Force

After having dominated the legislative, municipal and regional elections of September 8, the National Rally of Independents (RNI) has established itself as the leading political force in Morocco. According to provisional data relating to the distribution of seats for the election of members of the House of Representatives (lower house) and the councils of municipalities and regions, following the end of the counting operation, the RNI took the lead with 102 seats in the House, 9.995 seats in municipal and district councils and 196 seats in regional councils. Compared to its results in the legislative elections of 2016, the party made a leap forward by winning almost three times the seats it had obtained (37 seats). The provisional results of the municipal and regional elections confirm this observation. In 2015, the RNI ranked fourth with only 4,408 seats in the municipalities and 90 in the regional ones. On the other hand, the Justice and Development Party, which was the ruling party during a decade, has routed spectacularly. After winning 125 seats in the 2016 legislative elections, the party only obtained 13 places this time, thus ranking eighth. This decline was also confirmed in municipal and regional elections, as the PJD came eighth, with 777 and 18 seats respectively, after winning in 2015 5,021 seats in the municipalities and 174 seats in the regional ones. As for the Authenticity and Modernity Party, it managed to keep the second place it obtained in the last legislative elections, despite a decline in the number of seats (86 against 102). At the regional level, it won 143 seats, against 132 in the last election, while at the municipal level, it won 6,210 seats against 6,655 in 2015. According to the provisional results relating to the distribution of seats for the election of members of the House of Representatives, the Istiqlal Party won 81 seats, while remaining in the third place. The party achieved remarkable progress, as the number of seats increased significantly compared to 2016 (46 seats). The same goes for the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), which has managed to almost double its seats (35 against 20 in 2016), a performance which has enabled it to occupy the fourth place. The Popular Movement, for its part, won 29 seats against 27 in the last legislative elections, while the Party for Progress and Socialism (PPS) won 21 seats, advancing two places compared to the last ballot in which it occupied the eighth place with 12 seats. The Constitutional Union (UC) remains at the same position (7th) with 18 seats (against 19 in 2016). Regarding the distribution of seats for the election of members of municipal councils, the Istiqlal Party came third with 5,600 seats (second in 2015 with 5,106 seats), followed by the Socialist Union of Popular Forces with 2,415 seats (sixth in 2015 with 2,656 seats) and the Popular Movement with 2,253 seats (fifth in 2015 with 3,007 seats). The Constitutional Union came sixth with 1,626 seats, after occupying the eighth place in the last election (1,489 seats), followed by the Party of Progress and Socialism with 1,532 seats (seventh in 2015 with 1,766 seats). In the regional elections, the Istiqlal party advanced one place (144 seats) after being third in 2015 (119 seats), followed by the Authenticity and Modernity Party (143 seats against 132), the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (48 seats in both ballots), the Popular Movement (47 seats against 58), the Constitutional Union (30 seats against 27) and the Party of Progress and Socialism (29 seats against 23).