Tensions between the National Rally of Independents (RNI) and the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) have spilled into the open ahead of the elections, with the RNI accusing its coalition partner of attempting to recruit its candidates and elected officials.
In a statement issued on August 25, the RNI said it had observed “wooing attempts and pressure” targeting several of its parliamentarians, elected officials and local leaders in recent weeks.
The party said the practices had gone beyond normal political competition and were now raising questions about respect for the independence of party structures.
The unusually direct accusation brings simmering competition between two of the governing coalition’s main parties into public view as they prepare to face each other at the ballot box.
The RNI denounced what it called a “blatant contradiction” between parties’ public commitments to electoral integrity and some of the practices taking place on the ground, singling out its relationship with PAM.
RNI names eight figures
The party identified eight politicians it says PAM intends to field in the elections despite their existing or previously announced links with the RNI.
They are Abdelhay Hartoun, Mohamed El Joumani, Zineb Simou, Othmane Badel, Manal Badel, Bouchra El Ouardi, Abdelhafid El Mekouti and Abdelkader El Hadouri.
According to the RNI, some had already been announced as candidates under its banner, while others continue to hold elected office in the party’s name.
The political bureau argued that the number of cases, and what it described as similarities in the methods used, meant they could no longer be treated as isolated defections.
It said attempts to approach RNI figures had even extended to a member of its political bureau.
For the party, the dispute is therefore no longer simply about politicians switching allegiance ahead of an election. It has become a question of the rules governing competition between parties and respect for their organizational autonomy.
The RNI warned against reducing electoral competition to a scramble for candidates rather than a contest of programs, ideas and political projects.
Read also : Official: Fouzi Lekjaa and Yanja El Khattat join PAM
Coalition partners, electoral rivals
The statement marks a sharp departure from the cooperative language normally associated with the governing coalition.
The RNI, PAM and the Istiqlal Party have governed together since the 2021 legislative elections. As the next vote approaches, however, coalition solidarity is increasingly giving way to electoral rivalry.
The RNI said it would not accept the practices it attributes to PAM as a normal part of political competition and reserved the right to take whatever action it considers necessary to protect its organization and members.
At the same time, it said it would not retaliate using similar methods.
Instead, the party said it intends to campaign on its record, program, cadres, and organizational strength, leaving voters to decide at the ballot box.
The irony of Morocco’s political musical chairs
The RNI’s complaint nevertheless comes with an awkward political history.
Changing parties ahead of elections is hardly new to Moroccan politics, and the RNI itself has previously benefited from politicians crossing party lines.
Aziz Akhannouch, who led the RNI before becoming head of government, had earlier belonged to the Popular Movement before joining the party.
Mohamed Chaouki, the RNI’s current president, also previously belonged to PAM and was active in its youth organization before eventually rising through the RNI ranks.
Politicians changing colors, parties recruiting established local figures and candidates repositioning themselves before elections have long blurred ideological and organizational boundaries.
What has changed this time is that the RNI has chosen to publicly accuse its coalition partner of crossing the line.
As election day approaches, the party that has often benefited from Morocco’s political game of musical chairs now finds itself complaining that the music is playing in PAM’s favor.
