The parliamentary vote in Morocco unfolds amid deep youth frustration over jobs, services and opportunities. Candidates like 28-year-old Yassine Moujane are campaigning directly in rural communities to win disillusioned young voters after Gen Z-led protests and deadly migration attempts to Ceuta. While the World Bank projects GDP growth of about 4.2% for the year, national growth has not produced enough jobs: youth unemployment for ages 15–24 reached 37% in 2025. The incoming government will face urgent tasks at home even as it manages large infrastructure projects tied to Morocco’s role co-hosting the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
Young Moroccans Divided Over Whether Politics Can Deliver Change as Election Nears
FILE - People protest against corruption and calling for healthcare and education reform, in Casablanca, Morocco, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo, File)(AP Photo/STR)
Sidi Moussa El Majdoub, Morocco — A funeral for an elderly woman in this rural town unexpectedly became a campaign stop as candidates tried to engage disillusioned young voters ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for Wednesday.
Economic hardship and limited prospects for young Moroccans helped spark Gen Z-led protests last year and contributed to a surge of migration toward Spain's Ceuta this summer. Candidates such as 28-year-old attorney Yassine Moujane have made youth concerns central to their campaigns.
FILE - Migrants cross from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Sempere, File)(AP Photo/Antonio Sempere)
Campaigning in unlikely places. Moujane attended the funeral in the hometown of another candidate on his party list, offering condolences, listening to grievances and quietly seeking votes. "I used to plead for my clients in court, and now the time has come to plead for Moroccans in parliament," he told The Associated Press in Sidi Moussa El Majdoub, roughly 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Rabat. Moujane is among the youngest candidates and is running with the Democratic and Social Movement, a party seen as pro-establishment. He has two small children.
Some mourners welcomed the attention and promises; others remained deeply skeptical. "Politicians don't care about us. They only care about their own interests," said 28-year-old unemployed resident Yassine Hasnaoui. For many young people interviewed, frustration centers less on ideology and more on everyday concerns: finding steady work, affording a decent life and gaining reliable access to schools, hospitals and other services.
People take part in an electoral rally for Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) ahead of the upcoming legislative elections, in Tangier, Morocco, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)(AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Stark Youth Joblessness
Morocco's economy shows signs of growth, but that expansion has not translated into enough jobs for young people. The World Bank projected GDP growth of about 4.2% for the year, yet official figures put national unemployment at 13% in 2025 while unemployment for those aged 15 to 24 stood at 37%. Unemployment among higher-education graduates was reported at 19%.
Those pressures helped drive migration attempts to Ceuta this summer. Dozens of young Moroccans died trying to reach the Spanish enclave — including a factory worker trying to pay his mother’s medical bills, a promising soccer player and a high school student dreaming of a better future, according to AP interviews with their families.
People take part in an electoral rally ahead of legislative elections in Tangier, Morocco, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)(AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Election Stakes and Structure
Voters will choose from among 7,288 candidates representing 27 political parties competing for 395 seats in the House of Representatives. The head of government is appointed by King Mohammed VI from the party that wins the most seats. That structure and the monarchy’s significant powers shape how many young people view political change: parties are often seen as unresponsive while real authority remains highly centralized.
"Political power remains highly centralized in the monarchy, and parties are widely perceived by youth as unresponsive," said Steven Höfner, head of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung’s Rabat office.
Young people aged 18 to 24 account for roughly 12% of Morocco's population but only about 4% of the country's 15.8 million registered voters, in part because citizens must actively register to vote after turning 18. That gap highlights a challenge for parties trying to mobilize youth.
Other urgent tasks facing the incoming government include curbing inflation, reducing unemployment and convincing young Moroccans that the country's economic transformation — including growth in the automotive and aeronautics industries, expansion of high-speed rail and the development of Tanger Med port — will translate into higher incomes and better public services. The new government will also oversee major infrastructure spending related to Morocco’s role co-hosting the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
For many in rural areas, the issues are immediate and concrete. Hassan Challaoui, a 32-year-old boilermaker from the same village, said local children walk roughly 10 kilometers (6 miles) each day to reach school and called for a school bus to spare them lengthy, sometimes dangerous journeys. Across the country, critics say the average age of current lawmakers — about 53 — reinforces calls for younger representation in parliament.
Whether this election will alter the daily realities of Morocco's young people remains uncertain. Some see voting as a path to influence decisions on wages, public hiring and family law; others see entrenched elites and centralized power as barriers to meaningful change.
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