How Ceuta, football and Israel are shaping Morocco's election

Disillusioned young voters in Morocco were courted with viral football slogans, promises of one million jobs and anti-Israel rallying calls ahead of Wednesday's parliamentary elections.

Yet, for many young Moroccans, politics remains deeply disconnected from reality.

"I have no hope for this election. I'm ashamed of our political scene. It's a complete circus," Siham Azeroual, 32, an environmental activist who lives in the Atlas region, tells the BBC.

The outcome of the vote will decide the make-up of the next government, just weeks after 60,000 people risked their lives to cross from the North African country to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta - a sign of the lack of opportunities many young people feel they have at home.

Morocco operates as a constitutional monarchy where political parties compete for 395 seats in the House of Representatives, the legislative chamber.

Yet executive power remains closely tied to the crown. King Mohammed VI, the 63-year-old monarch, appoints the prime minister from the political party that comes first in the election, but also presides over the Council of Ministers - the country's most important policy-making body.

The current campaign also follows a wave of Gen Z protests that erupted in September 2025 over unemployment, healthcare and living costs.

Demonstrators chanted slogans like "freedom, dignity, and social justice" which escalated to "get out Akhannouch", a reference to current Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch.

More than 2,400 people faced prosecution following the unrest. Despite the crackdown, some young activists are choosing to enter the political arena.

Hamza El Kharroubi, 29, was briefly arrested during the protests. He is now running for parliament with the little-known Environment and Sustainable Development Party, which has a green agenda.

"As a young person, I don't have much hope. I joined this party because they wanted more Gen Z faces and they are allowing us to speak freely about our demands," El Kharroubi tells the BBC.

He comes from Tetouan, just 34km (21 miles) from Fnideq beach, where the migration wave to Ceuta started in late July.

Some 60,000 people crossed, both Moroccans and other nationalities. At least 100 people died in the largest migration surge to the enclave in recent history.

"We want justice for the families of those who died crossing to Ceuta. We want compensation for their families," El Kharroubi says.

He argues that the crossing was widely linked to economic hardship and unemployment.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates overall unemployment stood at 13% last year, while youth unemployment - between the ages of 15 and 24 - reached 37.3%.

El Kharroubi says his goal is not to compete with established heavyweights - but securing a voice in parliament to build toward 2031.

"As young people, we have to enter the parliament so by 2031 we have strong young politicians who can compete for a seat in the government."

Fouzi Lekjaa, head of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and a senior politician who works in the finance ministry, has emerged as the kingdom's newest political sensation - and a definite heavyweight.

Credited with helping the Atlas Lions - as the national men's football team is known - become global contenders, Lekjaa joined the centrist Party of Authenticity and Modernity (Pam) in July.

Videos of his campaign rallies have gone viral in the football-mad nation that is jointly hosting the next World Cup along with Spain and Portugal.

The clips show crowds chanting "Sir" which means "Go" in Moroccan Arabic - the iconic catchphrase from Morocco's historic 2022 World Cup run, when it became the first Arab and African side to make it to the semi-finals.

Lekjaa has promised to make Morocco sixth in the world in education and healthcare, to match the Fifa ranking of the men's football team.

Pam is competing against 26 other parties, including Prime Minister Akhannouch's National Rally of Independents (RNI). In its bid for a second term, RNI has renewed a pledge to create one million job opportunities by 2031.

Political expert Rachid Aourraz, from the Moroccan Institute for Policy Analysis (MIPA), remains sceptical about this promise.

"The slogan 'one million jobs' has become an overused electoral slogan. There is also talk of raising the minimum wage, but what is proposed cannot withstand a structural inability to create stable net jobs," Aourraz tells the BBC.

He adds that major parties "do not compete over an alternative model", but rather over how to implement public policies set by a royal vision.