Arabic version: الحملة الانتخابية في المغرب تركز على الوظائف وسبتة وإسرائيل

According to BBC News, Morocco’s parliamentary election campaign has targeted disillusioned young voters with football-themed slogans, job pledges and anti-Israel messages before Wednesday’s vote. The election will determine the make-up of the next government, with parties competing for 395 seats in the House of Representatives.

The campaign comes weeks after about 60,000 people crossed from Morocco to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in late July. At least 100 people died in what was described as the largest migration surge to the enclave in recent history. Hamza El Kharroubi, a 29-year-old candidate for the Environment and Sustainable Development Party, said the crossings were widely linked to economic hardship and unemployment.

The IMF estimated overall unemployment at 13% last year, while unemployment among people aged 15 to 24 reached 37.3%. Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch’s National Rally of Independents is seeking a second term and has renewed a pledge to create one million job opportunities by 2031. Rachid Aourraz of the Moroccan Institute for Policy Analysis questioned whether the proposal could overcome what he called a structural inability to create stable net jobs.

Football official Fouzi Lekjaa, who joined the Party of Authenticity and Modernity in July, has become a prominent campaign figure. Videos from his rallies have spread online, with supporters chanting a catchphrase associated with Morocco’s 2022 World Cup run. Lekjaa has promised to make Morocco sixth in the world in education and healthcare, matching the Fifa ranking of the men’s national team.

The Islamist Justice and Development Party is seeking a comeback by campaigning against diplomatic ties with Israel. Morocco normalised relations with Israel in December 2020, though ties were affected during the Gaza war. More than half of Morocco’s population of roughly 38.8 million is under 35, but only 4% of more than 15.8 million registered voters are aged 18 to 24.