Moroccans vote in parliamentary, municipal elections

RABAT, Morocco (AA) – Moroccans headed to the ballot box on Wednesday to vote in the country’s parliamentary and municipal elections.

According to an Anadolu Agency correspondent, voting centers opened at 8:00 am local time (0700 GMT).

There are 17,983,490 eligible voters, out of the country’s 36 million population, who will cast their votes in 92 electoral districts distributed across the kingdom's 12 provinces.

The Justice and Development party, which leads the current government, and the National Rally of Independents, a coalition led by Minister of Agriculture Aziz Akhannouch, are the two main parties vying for seats in the 395-member House of Representatives, the country’s first chamber of parliament.

The Authenticity and Modernity Party, the largest opposition party, and the opposition Istiqlal Party, also emerged as an electoral force in the kingdom.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat