Rabat – Morocco’s moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) clinched a landslide victory in the country’s parliamentary elections, winning 107 of 395 seats, the interior ministry announced Sunday.
The news came a day after official preliminary results had the PJD winning a majority victory.
According to Sunday’s results, the conservative nationalist party Istiqlal took second place with 60 seats. The centrist party RNI, which belongs to the current governing coalition, won 52 seats. The monarchist PAM took 47 seats, and the socialist USFP won 39 seats.
PJD Party Chief Abdelilah Benkirane announced that he would seek to build a governing coalition with Istiqlal and the socialist parties USFP and PPS.
It was the second victory for a moderate Islamist party in democratic elections in North Africa after popular uprisings toppled autocrats in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, where the Ennahda party won an election there last month.
The PJD initially focused on issues such as a ban on alcohol, but it has since shifted its focus to broader social issues like education and health.
