UPDATE - National Rally of Independents wins Moroccan parliamentary elections

UPDATES WITH DETAILS

By Ebu Bekir Askin and Khaled Majdoub

RABAT, Morocco (AA) – Morocco's National Rally of Independents won Wednesday's parliamentary elections, according to provisional results announced by the interior minister.

In a press conference early Thursday, Abdelouafi Laftit said the liberal party won 97 seats after a count of 96% of the votes, the highest among the parties that contested the polls.

The Authenticity and Modernity Party, the largest opposition party, came second with 82 seats, followed by the center-right Istiqlal Party with 78 seats in the 395-seat parliament.

Meanwhile, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces won 35 seats, People's Movement 26, Party of Progress and Socialism 20, and Constitutional Union Party 18.

The ruling Justice and Development Party, which had 125 seats, saw its support collapse to just 12.

The turnout in the elections was just over 50%, higher than in 2016, according to the ministry.

Notably, Saad-Eddine el-Othmani, outgoing Moroccan prime minister and secretary-general of the Justice and Development Party, failed to retain his parliamentary seat in the Rabat outskirts constituency.

According to data announced by the Rabat province on Thursday morning, Nabil Ben Abdullah, secretary-general of the left-wing opposition Party of Progress and Socialism was also unable to win a seat in the same constituency.

Commenting on the results, Hassan al-Omrani, a leading member of Justice and Development Party, said that his party "was defeated and it must recognize this … and most importantly take the necessary practical steps."

He added: "The defeat is painful, but it is not the end of the path."

*Writing by Faruk Zorlu and Mahmoud Barakat