Moroccan party's leadership resigns after defeat in polls

RABAT, Morocco (AA) - The leadership of the Moroccan Justice and Development party collectively resigned Thursday following the party’s bitter loss in the country’s parliamentary polls.

In a statement, the party, which led the outgoing coalition government, said it will move to the opposition side.

The statement also said that the country’s Prime Minister, Saad-Eddine El-Othmani, quit the party leadership along with other members of the leadership.

The statement called for holding an urgent session on Sept. 18 for the party's National Council to "take appropriate decisions" and to evaluate the election results.

It said, however, that the results of the parliamentary elections were "incomprehensible and illogical" and do not reflect the reality of the party's position on Morocco’s political map.

According to preliminary results of Morocco’s parliamentary elections on Wednesday, the liberal National Rally of Independents emerged as the winning party with 97 seats in the 395-seat parliament while the ruling moderate Islamist Justice and Development party fell to eighth place with only 12 seats.

In 2016, the Justice and Development party led a coalition government after coming in first place in parliamentary elections with 125 seats.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar