Ruling Coalition Wins Parliamentary Elections in Morocco

 In Morocco, a coalition of three ruling parties has won the elections to the House of Representatives — the lower house of the kingdom's parliament. The Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM), the National Rally of Independents (RNI), and the Istiqlal Party secured 228 of 395 seats, Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit announced at a press conference on September 24.

PAM won 97 seats in the House of Representatives, the RNI 66, and Istiqlal 65. The opposition Justice and Development Party received 54 mandates, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces took 26 seats in parliament, the Popular Movement 29, and the Party of Progress and Socialism 19. The remaining seats were distributed among seven other parties.

According to the Interior Ministry, voter turnout in the elections was approximately 38%, and more than 3,000 observers monitored the voting.

"Voting across the country took place under normal conditions, with the exception of isolated incidents that did not affect the electoral process," Laftit said, as reported by Hespress.

Morocco's parliamentary elections took place on September 23. The country strengthened security measures, especially in border areas, amid the migration crisis in the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which border the kingdom. According to authorities, vote counting was conducted manually at each polling station, of which there are about 40,700 across the country.