Country · MA
Morocco
المغرب מרוקו5 parties on file · 3 currently in government
Timeline · 2 events
Region timeline →-
Morocco: PJD collapses, RNI wins — Islamists fall from 125 seats to 13
After a decade in government, the Justice and Development Party (PJD) lost more than 90% of its parliamentary seats in a single election. The National Rally of Independents (RNI), led by billionaire Aziz Akhannouch, won the most seats and formed the next government. The collapse was widely read as voters punishing the PJD for accepting normalization with Israel earlier that year — a deal King Mohammed VI signed in exchange for US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.
-
February 20 Movement and Moroccan constitutional reform
Pro-reform protests across Morocco starting 2011-02-20 prompted King Mohammed VI to announce a new constitution (passed July 2011) that nominally devolved some powers to parliament. The PJD won the subsequent election; the reforms preserved monarchic primacy but defused the Arab Spring's immediate pressure.
Marquee bills
All bills →Compass · Morocco
Country mean — Economic +2.8, Social +1.8
Ringed dots are parties currently in government. See the full regional compass · hand-coded estimates; methodology.
Current leadership
- Head of state
King Hassan II الملك الحسن الثاني
Independent
King of Morocco 1961-1999, organised the 1975 Green March that annexed the bulk of Western Sahara, presided over the "Years of Lead" repression.
- Head of state In gov
King Mohammed VI محمد السادس
Independent
King of Morocco since 1999; head of the Alaouite monarchy. The monarchy retains executive primacy under the post-2011 constitution.
- Head of government In gov
Aziz Akhannouch عزيز أخنوش
National Rally of Independents
Prime Minister of Morocco since October 2021. Billionaire businessman; leader of the National Rally of Independents (RNI).
- Head of government In gov
Aziz Akhennouch عزيز أخنوش
National Rally of Independents
Prime Minister of Morocco since 2021 and President of the National Rally of Independents (RNI). Businessman and politician.
- Party leader
Abdelilah Benkirane عبد الإله بنكيران
Justice and Development Party
Secretary-General of the Justice and Development Party (PJD); Prime Minister of Morocco 2011-2017. Brotherhood-affiliated figure in the post-Arab-Spring political landscape.
- Party leader
Driss Lachgar إدريس لشكر
Independent
First Secretary of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) since 2012 — the historic Moroccan left party that led the 1998 Alternance government and has spent the years since reckoning with the institutional cost of that experiment. The party sits in opposition to Akhannouch's coalition. Lachgar himself is a lawyer who has served in earlier USFP-led governments.
- Activist
Maati Monjib المعطي منجب
Independent
Moroccan historian, journalist, and rights activist; sentenced in 2021 to one year in prison on fraud and security charges widely viewed as retaliation for his criticism of the monarchy. Hunger-struck during his detention; released under judicial supervision.
Parties
- Authenticity and Modernity Party حزب الأصالة والمعاصرة
Led by · Fatima-Zahra Mansouri
Royal-aligned secular-liberal party in the current government coalition; often counterweight to PJD.
- Istiqlal Party حزب الاستقلال
Led by · Nizar Baraka
Historic Moroccan independence-era nationalist party, currently in the governing coalition.
- Justice and Development Party حزب العدالة والتنمية
Led by · Abdelilah Benkirane
Moderate Islamist party that led Moroccan governments 2011–2021; reduced to opposition in the 2021 elections.
- National Rally of Independents التجمع الوطني للأحرار
Led by · Aziz Akhennouch
Pro-business liberal party leading the current government under PM Aziz Akhennouch.
- Socialist Union of Popular Forces الاتحاد الاشتراكي للقوات الشعبية
Led by · Driss Lachgar
Social-democratic party with a long opposition tradition; currently in opposition after years in government coalitions.
Source documents · 13
All docs →- King Mohammed VI Throne Day Speech, 29 Jul 2025 — 26th anniversary of accession (Tetouan; English translation of Arabic original) 617 words
- Akhannouch — UN GA 77 (Sep 2022): Morocco PM, autonomy plan, Algeria-named accusations on Tindouf 355 words
- البرنامج الانتخابي لحزب العدالة والتنمية 2021 (PJD 2021 electoral programme — the 5 axes) 225 words
- قصتنا (Our Story) — RNI / التجمع الوطني للأحرار official party identity & principles page 190 words
- قصتنا (Our Story) — RNI / التجمع الوطني للأحرار official party identity & principles 88 words
- King Mohammed VI — Speech to the Nation on the 44th Anniversary of the Green March, 6 November 2019 (official English translation) 352 words
Briefs from Morocco
Hand-written political-science mini-papers involving Morocco parties. 2 briefs on file.
- Justice and Development Party vs. Ennahda TN Maghreb Islamist electoralism. Tunisia's Ennahda against Morocco's PJD. Same Brotherhood-influenced tradition, very different state structures.
- Justice and Development Party vs. National Rally of Independents MA Morocco's post-2011 settlement. PJD's Islamist-electoral project against RNI's liberal-monarchist business establishment — both inside the makhzen, on different sides of it.
How to cite
Each record carries a retrieval date because the dataset is live — individual entries update as verification deepens. Use the per-record citation when referencing this specific profile; use the dataset citation below when referencing the project as a whole.
In-text: (Gara, 2026)
Per-record citation
APA 7Reference list · academic default
Gara, T. (2026). Morocco [Country profile]. Tayyar: A MENA political-position dataset. Retrieved June 21, 2026, from https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/c/MA
Chicago author-dateCommon in political-science journals
Gara, Tarek. 2026. "Morocco." Country profile, Tayyar: A MENA political-position dataset. Accessed June 21, 2026. https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/c/MA.
BibTeXFor LaTeX / Zotero / reference managers
@misc{tayyar-country-ma,
title = {{Morocco}},
author = {Gara, Tarek},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Tayyar: A MENA political-position dataset},
type = {Country profile},
url = {https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/c/MA},
urldate = {2026-06-21},
note = {First-pass entry; second-pass external review planned before publication.}
} Dataset / working-paper citation
If you're citing Tayyar as a project rather than this individual record.
APA 7Preprint
Gara, T. (2026). Tayyar: A MENA political-position dataset [Preprint]. Retrieved June 21, 2026, from https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/paper
BibTeXPreprint
@unpublished{tayyar-preprint,
title = {{Tayyar: A MENA political-position dataset}},
author = {Gara, Tarek},
year = {2026},
type = {Preprint},
url = {https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/paper},
urldate = {2026-06-21},
note = {Living document, regenerated from the live dataset on page load.}
} First-pass entry; second-pass external review planned before publication.