Seven new female faces take Souss-Massa’s regional seats 

Seven new female faces will represent Souss-Massa through the region’s seven regional seats in the House of Representatives.

According to the Wali of the Souss-Massa region and the governor of the Agadir Ida-Outanane prefecture, Istiqlal came first with 23.06% of the 428,796 valid votes, followed by RNI with 22.57%, PAM with 21.54%, and PJD with 19.69%.

The four parties together accounted for more than 86% of valid votes in the regional constituency, while the Progress and Socialism Party (PPS) received 3.21%, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) 2.56%, and the Left Alliance 2.09%.

The seven seats were distributed among these seven parties, with Istiqlal represented by Kenza Kayouh, who comes from a prominent political family and is reportedly the granddaughter of the late Haj Ali Kayouh.

PAM will be represented by Sanaa Zahid, who previously served as a councilor at Agadir’s municipal council and as head of the cabinet at the Ministry of Justice.

RNI will be represented by Zakia Driouich, the Secretary of State for Maritime Fisheries, while PJD’s seat will go to Sanaa Aki, who is responsible for women’s affairs within the party in Souss-Massa.

Meanwhile, PPS will be represented by Khadija El Baz, a member of the party’s political bureau, while the Left Alliance’s seat goes to Sanae Faouzi, a doctor and young rights activist from Agadir, and USFP will be represented by Fadwa Rjwani, a civil society and human rights activist.

In 2021, different women secured parliamentary seats through the regional list. The seats went to Hanane El Massi of PAM, Noura Kroum of Istiqlal, Naima El Fathaoui of PJD, Khadija Arouhal of PPS, Zeina Edakhli and Kalila Bounailat of RNI, and Nozha Abaakrim of USFP.

According to Morocco’s electoral law, anyone previously elected to the House of Representatives through a regional constituency cannot run again through a regional constituency.