Morocco’s Justice and Growth Occasion (PJD) went from a decade of being the principle political beneficiary of the nation’s post-2011 reforms to struggling a dramatic electoral defeat in 2021.
The occasion gained 107 of the 395 seats in Parliament within the November 2011 election, after protests that 12 months known as for political reform, higher accountability and a extra responsive authorities. Its chief, Abdelilah Benkirane, turned head of presidency.
Morocco’s 2011 constitutional modifications expanded the formal powers of Parliament and authorities whereas retaining important authority for the monarchy. The king appoints the pinnacle of presidency from the occasion that comes first within the Home of Representatives, whereas he chairs the Council of Ministers, the place strategic orientations of state coverage are thought of.
Within the 2016 election, the PJD elevated its seats to 125, however Benkirane spent months unable to type a governing coalition. In March 2017, King Mohammed VI ended his mandate and appointed Saadeddine Othmani to exchange him. The PJD remained in authorities till its electoral collapse 4 years later.
Within the September 2021 election, the occasion fell from 125 seats to simply 13, shedding 112. The Nationwide Rally of Independents (RNI) gained 102 seats and have become the biggest occasion.
How a lot of the comeback rests on Benkirane?
Benkirane’s return raises one other query: How a lot of the PJD’s comeback is being constructed round him?
A current Al Jazeera Research evaluation describes Benkirane as a political “model” whose lengthy public profession, media presence and direct communication fashion have created a private profile that may operate as electoral capital for the occasion.
It examines whether or not his visibility and private attraction can assist the PJD rebuild after its 2021 collapse.
Benkirane stays one in all Morocco’s most recognisable political figures. However his return doesn’t by itself present that the PJD has rebuilt its assist.
The occasion misplaced 112 seats in 2021; its job now could be to show the eye generated by its chief into assist for the occasion itself.
A broader programme
The PJD’s 2026 programme incorporates 467 measures throughout 5 broad areas: identification and household; political and institutional reform; public companies and social safety; the financial system and employment; and overseas coverage.
It requires higher transparency in public procurement, guidelines addressing conflicts of curiosity and illicit enrichment, and enhancements to public companies. It additionally highlights housing, social safety, meals, water and vitality sovereignty.
Its programme foregrounds sensible points comparable to costs, jobs, faculties, hospitals and corruption.
![The PJD is campaigning on public services, jobs, purchasing power and political reform as it seeks to rebuild after its 2021 electoral collapse [Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/AFP__20260912__C84F3GR__v1__MidRes__MoroccoPoliticsElection-1789565328.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C493&quality=80)
Saad al-Sabahi, 38, who works with the PJD’s regional secretariat in Casablanca-Settat, mentioned the programme was developed by way of research, session conferences and proposals submitted by way of a web based platform.
“These commitments cowl a variety of sectors and areas affecting the lives of the Moroccan individuals,” he advised Al Jazeera, pointing to political participation, combating corruption, public training, healthcare, employment and financial sovereignty.
“These commitments, amongst others, type the premise of the settlement between the occasion and voters. We’ll work to fulfil and implement them with integrity and competence,” al-Sabahi mentioned.
What modified after 2021?
The PJD says one in all its primary classes from the 2021 defeat has been the necessity to reorganise internally and study extra critically its years in authorities.
“The occasion was capable of overcome its disaster following its extraordinary and common congresses, and after Secretary-Basic Abdelilah Benkirane took over the management,” al-Sabahi mentioned. “The occasion additionally reorganised its inner affairs by way of communication and the renewal of its constructions.”
The occasion’s personal evaluation of the 2021 defeat contains criticism of its political and organisational decisions. It has additionally accused unnamed actors of undermining democratic selection and pointed to what it describes as electoral corruption and disinformation.
These are the PJD’s explanations for the consequence, somewhat than independently established findings. However the scale of its losses pressured the occasion to confront how far its document in authorities had separated it from elements of its former assist base.
That issues notably in terms of youthful voters.
Imane Traifi, 37, of the PJD Youth, mentioned the occasion wanted to create sustained alternatives for younger individuals to participate in political life somewhat than treating them merely as voters throughout election campaigns.
“We’re eager to make sure that younger individuals transfer from being recipients to turning into contributors, initiators and individuals who tackle duty,” she advised Al Jazeera.
The ghosts and crocodiles
Nevertheless, a query for any future PJD authorities will not be solely what it could search to vary, however what it may change as soon as in workplace.
Benkirane repeatedly referred to “ghosts and crocodiles” as a metaphor for highly effective or hidden pursuits that he mentioned had obstructed his authorities when it was in energy.
The clearest instance is the occasion’s place on Israel.
The PJD has campaigned towards Morocco’s normalisation with Israel and continues to assist the Palestinian trigger. Its 2026 programme explicitly requires opposition to normalisation. But Morocco restored diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020 whereas the PJD was in authorities and Saadeddine Othmani was head of presidency.
The PJD opposed the transfer, whereas Othmani later defended it as a state resolution and mentioned Morocco’s assist for the Palestinian trigger remained unchanged. The settlement went forward in December 2020 as a part of a US-brokered deal that included Washington’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Six years later, the connection has moved additional. On September 16, Morocco and Israel agreed to raise their diplomatic missions to embassy stage and appoint ambassadors, whereas additionally increasing air journey and advancing financial and commerce agreements.
The PJD reaffirmed its opposition to normalisation and cooperation with Israel the next day, describing its place as longstanding.
But it surely additionally leaves a query for the occasion’s return: If such forces had been highly effective sufficient to constrain the federal government then, what has modified?
Has the PJD developed a distinct understanding of the boundaries of presidency authority or will it discover itself as soon as once more beset by “ghosts and crocodiles”?
The bounds of presidency energy
The PJD has made clear on a number of events that the change it seeks is from inside Morocco’s current political and constitutional system, somewhat than a problem to the monarchy itself.
Benkirane has repeatedly reaffirmed his assist for the monarchy whereas arguing that elected establishments ought to play their position in governing and enhancing the nation.
That distinction is necessary to understanding the PJD’s return. Its opposition to insurance policies comparable to normalisation with Israel sits alongside its acceptance of a constitutional and political framework by which the monarchy retains a central position in strategic state choices.
Beneath the structure, the king chairs the Council of Ministers, which considers the strategic orientations of state coverage.
That applies not solely to Israel however to different areas the place main coverage choices stay carefully tied to the monarchy.
For the PJD, rebuilding means greater than recovering the seats it misplaced in 2021. It means displaying what it realized from a decade in authorities, what it could actually ship and the way it could keep away from the political prices of its collapse.
Al-Sabahi mentioned the occasion wished to regain what he described because the positive aspects residents had beforehand loved.
“We’ll work to revive the positive aspects that residents beforehand loved and to revive their dignity and rights,” he advised Al Jazeera.
Yassine Elachiri, a member of the Nationwide Bureau of PJD Youth and the occasion’s Nationwide Council, mentioned the connection with youthful Moroccans needed to be constructed over time somewhat than throughout campaigns.
“Incomes the belief of a brand new era of younger individuals can’t be decreased to electoral mobilisation or short-term campaigns within the run-up to voting day,” he mentioned. “Slightly, it’s a cumulative course of constructed on sustained engagement, steerage, coaching and creating alternatives for younger individuals to take part actively in public affairs.”
“Our purpose will not be merely to achieve younger individuals in the intervening time of an election, however to construct an enduring relationship with them based mostly on belief, coaching and energetic participation,” Elachiri mentioned.
