The House of Representatives ( , ) is one of the two chambers—the other being the House of Councillors—of the Moroccan Parliament. The House of Representatives has 395 members elected for five-year terms, 305 of whom are elected in multi-seat constituencies, and the remaining 90 are elected based on regional lists dedicated to promoting gender equality.

History The Justice and Development Party (PJD) remained the largest party, winning 125 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives, a gain of 18 seats compared to the 2011 elections. The Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) won 102 seats, and the rest of the seats were split among smaller parties.

Aziz Akhannouch's National Rally of Independents won the most seats (102), up 65 from the previous election. With 87 members, the liberal Authenticity and Modernity Party lost 15 seats to finish in second place. With 81 seats overall, the center-right Istiqlal Party moved up to third place after gaining 35 seats. The ruling Justice and Development Party lost 112 seats overall as a result of the election, winning just 13 seats.

On 24 January 2023, the House of Representatives approved a bill that would set a level of "adequate knowledge" of Tamazight as a condition for obtaining Moroccan citizenship.

Electoral system The House of Representatives is composed of deputies elected for five-year terms by proportional representation in multi-member constituencies. Of this total, 305 seats are filled in 92 constituencies with between 2 and 6 seats depending on their population, in addition to 90 seats to be filled in 12 constituencies of 3 to 12 seats corresponding to the regions. The candidate lists for these 90 regional seats must be composed of at least one-third women, who must occupy the first and second positions on the list.

For all constituencies, candidate lists are closed, with no panachage or preferential voting. After the votes are counted, seats are allocated solely on the basis of the electoral quotient, calculated from the total number of voters registered on the electoral rolls rather than from the number of votes cast, as was the case before 2021

The number of seats per constituency varies between 2 and 6 according to the constituency's population. While large cities such as Casablanca, Fes, Rabat and Marrakesh are divided into several constituencies, in other cities the administrative boundaries coincide with the electoral boundaries.

Following a change to the electoral law passed in 2021 and implemented for the first time during the legislative elections held that same year, the 90 seats are no longer filled in a single national constituency, of which 60 are reserved for women and 30 for candidates under the age of forty. Seats were previously allocated according to the largest averages method to all lists that had passed the electoral threshold. The latter was 6% in ordinary constituencies and 3% for the national list, based on the votes cast

History The number of seats comprising the House of Representatives has evolved according to the legislative elections held in Morocco since its independence, obtained in November 1955 and taking effect in 1956; it increased from 144 seats in 1963 to 395 in the 2011 elections.

+ Evolution in the number of seats since the 1963 elections Legislative elections Number of seats +/- 1963 144 — 1970 240 96 1977 264 24 1984 306 42 1993 333 27 1997 325 8 2002 325 2007 325 2011 395 70 2016 395 2021 395

Role The role of the House of Representatives is to grant or withdraw confidence in the government, propose and vote on laws, oversee the government, and approve the budget of the state.

In order to oversee the actions of the government, it may question members of the government through oral questions, submit written questions to members of the government, bring down the government through a motion of censure, and conduct parliamentary commissions of inquiry into any matter it considers to be of general interest, as well as summon civil servants and officials of public or private companies to question them.

The elected members are divided among several permanent committees and specialize during their terms in a particular field (Finance Committee, Energy Committee, Interior and Local Authorities Committee, Education Committee, etc.). The specialized committees assess the policies of the Moroccan state by hearing experts and senior civil servants, receiving ministers, and conducting field visits.

The committees also examine bills and legislative proposals. Bills are always examined by a committee before subsequently being presented in a plenary session. They are then voted on by the House of Councillors. In the event of disagreement with the latter, the House of Representatives has the final say.

Parliamentary groups

2016–2021 legislature + Parliamentary groupsGroup namePresidentNumber of membersPolitical party  Justice and Development GroupMostafa Brahimi123PJD  Authenticity and Modernity GroupRachid El Abdi103PAM  Constitutional Rally GroupTaoufik Kamil62RNI, UC, MDS, PUD  Istiqlalian Unity and Egalitarianism GroupNourdin Moudian42PI  Haraki GroupMohamed Moubdi23MP  Socialist GroupAmam Chokrane21USFP  Progress and Socialism GroupAicha Lablak13PPSMembers belonging to no group or parliamentary grouping2FDG

2021–2026 legislature + Parliamentary groupsGroup namePresidentNumber of membersPolitical party  National Rally of Independents GroupYassine Oukacha102RNI  Authenticity and Modernity GroupAhmed Touizi87PAM  Istiqlalian Unity and Egalitarianism GroupNouredin Moudian81PI  Socialist GroupAbderrahim Chahid34USFP  Haraki GroupDriss Sentissi28MP  Democratic Constitutional and Social GroupChaoui Belassal23UC, MDS  Progress and Socialism GroupRachid Hamouni22PPS  Justice and Development Party GroupAbdellah Bouanou13PJDMembers belonging to no group or parliamentary grouping5FFD, PSU, AFG

List of speakers No. Speaker Political party Term Legislature1 Mehdi Ben Barka Istiqlal Party (PI) 1956–1959 Constituent2 Abdelkrim al-Khatib Popular Movement (MP) 1963–1965 1st3 Abdelhadi Boutaleb Independent 1970–1971 2nd4 Mehdi Ben Bouchta Istiqlal Party (PI) 1971–19725 Dey Ould Sidi Baba National Rally of Independents (RNI) 1977–1983 3rd6 Ahmed Osman National Rally of Independents (RNI) 1984–1992 4th7 Mohamed Jalal Essaid Constitutional Union (UC) 1992–1997 5th8 Abdelwahed Radi Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) 1997–20022002–2007 6th7th9 Mustapha Mansouri National Rally of Independents (RNI) 2007–2010 8th10 Abdelwahed Radi Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) 2010–201111 Karim Ghellab Istiqlal Party (PI) 2011–2014 9th12 Rachid Talbi Alami National Rally of Independents (RNI) 2014–201713 Habib El Malki Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) 2017–2021 10th14 Rachid Talbi Alami National Rally of Independents (RNI) 2021– 11th

See also House of Councillors List of presidents of the House of Representatives of Morocco

References

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