Morocco’s Authenticity and Modernity Party leads in provisional election results

CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — Morocco’s Authenticity and Modernity Party won the largest number of seats in the country’s parliamentary election, according to provisional results announced by the Interior Ministry early Thursday.

Meanwhile, the governing National Assembly of Independents suffered major losses while a moderate Islamist party made a strong comeback.

Authenticity and Modernity won 97 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives, Morocco’s lower house, followed by the Independents with 66 and the Istiqlal Party with 65. The Justice and Development Party, a moderate Islamist party that won just 13 seats in 2021, surged to 54.

Authenticity and Modernity and Istiqlal were members of the parliamentary majority that formed the outgoing Independent-led government. Founded in 2008 by a man close to the palace, Authenticity and Modernity emerged as a major political force seen as a counterweight to Justice and Development, which previously led the government for a decade.