The PJD has put up candidates in all 104 constituencies for the September 23 elections as party chief Abdelilah Benkirane sought to rally his troops at a packed Mohammed V National Theatre in Rabat.
The Islamist party is contesting all 92 local constituencies and the 12 regional constituencies reserved for women.
The gathering also gave Benkirane the opportunity to present some of the party’s new faces, among them actress Fatima Ouchaye and journalist Samir Chaouki.
He welcomed their entry into the PJD, describing their decision to join the party as “free and considered."
The party also made vote-buying part of its pitch to candidates.
“We refuse to buy a vote for MAD200 when a kilo of veal costs that much,” one speaker said, drawing attention to a practice the PJD says it wants its candidates to steer clear of.
The candidates were also asked to abide by a 12-point charter covering the party’s values and ethics, decisions of its governing bodies and attendance in its parliamentary group.
Those who make it to Parliament will also have to pay MAD7,500 a month to the party.
The charter was signed symbolically on behalf of the candidates by PJD National Council President Driss El Azami El Idrissi and Ouchaye.
El Azami is contesting Skhirat-Témara, while Ouchaye has been fielded in the Casablanca-Settat regional constituency.
El Khalfi enters Rabat-Océan contest
Mustapha El Khalfi, meanwhile, told the gathering he was not fazed by the names lining up against him in Rabat-Océan, where four seats are at stake.
“I do not fear this constituency because I know it well, having worked there as director of the newspaper Attajdid,” he said.
El Khalfi, who served as communication minister and government spokesman under Benkirane, is up against outgoing Youth, Culture and Communication Minister Mohamed Mehdi Bensaïd of the PAM, who won a seat from the constituency in 2021.
Former minister Abdelkrim Benatiq is contesting on the USFP ticket, while Istiqlal has fielded outgoing MP Abdelilah Bouzidi.
Also in the race are Taha El Joumani of the RNI, Nabil Eddakhch of the MP, Rachid Sassi of the PPS, Omar Mahmoud Benjelloun of the FGD and Abdelmajid Bargach of the UC.
The crowded field has earned Rabat-Océan the familiar nickname of the “constituency of death."
Earlier, El Khalfi listed strengthening the family, health and education reforms, tackling unemployment, tax fairness and support for very small, small and medium-sized businesses among the PJD’s election priorities.
