‘Does my vote really count?’ Morocco’s Gen Z weigh hope against disillusionment ahead of election

‘Does my vote really count?

’ Morocco’s Gen Z weigh hope against disillusionment ahead of election Submitted by Caroline Dupuy on Tue, 09/08/2026 - 11:58 As general elections approach, young voters who took to the streets a year ago remain wary of corruption and broken promises A protester from Generation Z holds a sign reading “Stop the high prices, people’s pockets are empty” during a demonstration in front of the Moroccan parliament in Rabat on 9 October 2025 (Issam Zerrok/Hans Lucas/Reuters) Off Morocco is gearing up for its general election on 23 September to determine who will form the next government and replace the current prime minister, billionaire tycoon Aziz Akhannouch, elected in September 2021.

Over the last year alone, Morocco has faced a turbulent political landscape, from the Gen Z protests in September 2025 to the latest migrant crisis, with 72,000 Moroccans entering the Spanish enclave of Ceuta at the end of July.

The vote comes one year after the so-called Gen Z 212 uprising, when young people mobilised on Discord after eight women died within several days following routine caesarean sections in a public hospital in Agadir.

The movement quickly built momentum and morphed into wider calls for better education infrastructure, calling on the government to prioritise spending in critical areas rather than stadiums for Morocco’s co-hosting of the 2030 World Cup.

Morocco has a young population, with over 50 percent of the country under 35 years old.

Most of those participating in the Gen Z movement and mass migration attempt to Ceuta were young Moroccans, meaning a significant portion of the country's youth is entering this election cycle politically active yet deeply disillusioned.

Jihane*, a political coordinator at a Moroccan youth centre, told Middle East Eye “this upcoming election is particularly interesting because more young people appear to be engaged, and many are encouraging one another to vote”.

Despite youth engagement, many remain unsure that voting will have any real impact on their situation, while fears of corruption linger. “There is still considerable debate among youth.

Many continue to ask: does my vote really count? ” Jihane said. The young woman senses what she describes as “cautious optimism”.

‘It is almost as if they are saying, “we'll trust you once more, but will you betray that trust again?

”’ - Jihane, political coordinator Many young people are seemingly willing to give the political process another chance, she said.

“It is almost as if they are saying, 'we'll trust you once more, but will you betray that trust again?

’” For Hassan, a journalist and activist in the Gen Z protests and Discord network, the Ceuta migrant crisis, which consisted mostly of young Moroccans, was a statement from this generation.

"We no longer want to be part of this farce.

We’ve lost hope in the parties or the state to represent us and our hopes and aspirations,” he told MEE, calling the border crossing a “collective scream from all Moroccans” and not only from the youth.

Hassan believes “Gen Z see no point in holding elections”. He cited the silence from government officials when the protests were brutally suppressed.

During the events, three people were killed and at least 2,400 were arrested; around 600 people are still in prison.

“The system has proved that it would rather see us die in the sea than respond to our smallest demands,” he said. Many observers accuse Morocco of engineering the Ceuta crisis to pressure Spain.

An investigation has been opened in Spain after a police report described Moroccan law enforcement as broadly permissive and even facilitating the mass crossing. Rabat has denied any involvement.

A World Cup government Accusations of political poaching and corruption emerging between parties are doing little to reassure young voters.

The current party in power, the centre-right National Rally of Independents (RNI), recently accused the liberal Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) of “undermining the ethics of political work and the rules of sound democratic competition”.

'Morocco has given me nothing': The young migrants risking everything to reach Ceuta Read More » RNI is the main leading party in power, but PAM, one of the country’s largest political parties, is a strong contender to become the next leading party.

RNI won 97 out of the 395 seats in the 2021 elections and PAM had 82.

The statements stem from a leaked recording of an RNI meeting where the House of Representatives and senior RNI member Rachid Talbi Alami is heard talking about corruption and political poaching at PAM, critically mentioning the minister delegate in charge of the budget, Fouzi Lekjaa.

The comments come after Lekjaa, who also serves as president of the Royal Football Federation and until recently had no party affiliation, joined PAM a month ahead of the elections.

In response, PAM said that politicians joining the party had done so freely, rejecting RNI's claims of coercion.

However, speculation has mounted that this strategic move is designed to position Lekjaa as the next prime minister.

Given his dual influence in finance and football, analysts are describing the manoeuvre as the foundation for a World Cup government, a political strategy tailored to lead Morocco as it prepares to co-host the 2030 tournament.

‘We’ve lost hope in the parties or the state to represent us and our hopes and aspirations’ - Hassan, journalist and activist Hassan called the Lekjaa move “a joker card pulled by the Makhzen deep state”, referring to the name given to Morocco’s royal‑centred political establishment.

The Morocco 2030 Foundation, created to oversee the World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations hosting, “is the real next government,” the activist said.

The election process has also cast doubt over the likelihood of a true democratic process.

For the upcoming vote, the interior ministry, which only answers to the king, has taken on a supervisory role in the electoral process. “This adds insult to injury,” Hassan told MEE.

“In the past, the ministry’s role was behind the scenes in playing with the ballots, now it is very direct.

” Superficial reforms Following on from Gen Z demands, the Moroccan government created a new initiative to financially assist young people in campaigning and to promote youth participation in government by covering 75 percent of campaign costs.

Hassan said his key concern besides corruption in the upcoming election is “that there are no new or young candidates”.

Morocco’s $15bn promise falls short of GenZ 212 demands for real change Read More » “We have seen all the candidates in previous governments, and they did nothing,” he told MEE.

The non-existent youth involvement in the electoral campaign - despite the government initiative - is likely tied to the unrealistic, lengthy list of conditions.

One of them stipulates that candidate under 35 must collect at least 200 notarised voter signatures.

At least 30 to 50 percent of signatories must be women, and all signatures must be geographically spread across every single province.

In addition, youth candidates would only receive campaign public funding after the election.

The funding is contingent on whether the candidate receives at least two percent of the total registered votes in their district. Nobody has fulfilled the youth initiative’s conditions for this election.

Jihane argues that the measure must be judged by its ability to genuinely empower young people.

“The success of the reform should be assessed by the extent to which it enhances youth agency, whether young people are given genuine opportunities to shape political agendas […

] rather than serving as symbolic figures,” she said.

Navigating a saturated out-of-touch landscape Mohamed*, a member of the local bureau of the Socialist Youth Branch in the Beni Mellal-Khenifra region, told MEE that most political parties have incorporated the Gen Z movement's demands in their campaigns.

“Real action goes beyond discourse and slogans,” Mohamed said, adding that he views Moroccan leftist parties, mainly the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS) and the Unified Socialist Party (PSU), as having been the closest to embracing Gen Z demands.

The young Moroccan said both PSU and PPS “consistently raised the demands made by Gen Z throughout and after the protests via seminars and in the media”.

‘Real action goes beyond discourse and slogans’ - Mohamed, member of the Socialist Youth Branch In contrast, Jihane views Istiqlal, a right-wing associated party, as more aligned with the Gen Z movement’s calls, as she says it “publicly acknowledged the legitimacy of many young people’s concerns and advocated for reforms in those areas”.

However, she highlighted that “Gen Z is not politically homogeneous, so it would be inaccurate to identify a single party as representing the entire generation”.

Navigating the voting options in Morocco is complex as there are 36 parties. Mohamed believes there is not enough information available to enable voters to make an informed decision.

“Current electoral campaigns are dominated by superficiality and broad discourse; they lack mechanisms for engaging with youth,” he said.

Jihane notes that “one of the biggest challenges is political communication and the lack of understanding when it comes to understanding a party's ideology and proposals on key issues”.

The language parties use in Morocco does not match that of younger generations, she added.

“Most political parties continue to communicate through formal, institutional language, whereas younger generations increasingly consume information through social media platforms.

” This leaves a “significant disconnect” between how parties communicate and how young people engage with political information, she said. * Names have been changed.

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