Story perspectives

Morocco Sets Sept. 23, 2026 Parliamentary Election for 395 Seats

By Drooid · Sep 22, 2026, 10:47 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Morocco Holds Election

Morocco will hold parliamentary elections on September 23, 2026 for 395 House seats.
Twenty-seven parties have fielded 7,288 candidates for the election.
Voter registration fell to 15.8 million, a 9.7% decline since 2021.
Youth unemployment stands at 37% for ages 15-24, yet 18-24 voters are only 4% of registrants.
About 3,000 observers from the International Republican Institute, Arab League and PACE will monitor the vote.

Summary

UN Extends MINURSO

The UN adopted Resolution 2797 on 31 October 2025, extending MINURSO and endorsing Morocco’s autonomy framework for Western Sahara.
Secret ministerial talks produced a 40-page autonomy draft that adds parliamentary representation, leader amnesty, and refugee repatriation.
Major parties—including RNI, PAM, Istiqlal, and PJD—now frame Sahara policy as regional development within autonomy, not defence.
Moroccan census claims Sahara’s population grew from 74,000 in 1974 to about 600,000 today, supporting territorial claims.

History

Historical Context

On 6 November 1975 King Hassan II led a 350,000-person Green March that forced Spain to abandon Western Sahara, prompting UN Security Council Resolution 380 condemning the advance. Morocco then occupied most of the former Spanish Sahara, sparking a war that ended with the 1991 MINURSO-monitored cease-fire. The 2026 vote on Morocco’s autonomy plan builds on that legacy.

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Morocco Holds Election

Morocco will hold parliamentary elections on September 23, 2026 for 395 House seats.
Twenty-seven parties have fielded 7,288 candidates for the election.
Voter registration fell to 15.8 million, a 9.7% decline since 2021.
Youth unemployment stands at 37% for ages 15-24, yet 18-24 voters are only 4% of registrants.
About 3,000 observers from the International Republican Institute, Arab League and PACE will monitor the vote.

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