Morocco’s youth take Gen Z protest demands to the polls

Young candidates hope the election can turn youth frustration into political participation.

Young Moroccan candidates are campaigning ahead of the September 23 parliamentary election, nearly a year after Gen Z-led protests brought demands for better public services, jobs and political accountability to the streets [Hajar Elkahlaoui/Al Jazeera]

Rabat, Morocco – Nearly a year ago, environmental entrepreneur Hamza El Kharroubi was protesting in the streets. This week, the 28-year-old is campaigning for a seat in parliament.

Doing political canvassing in Tetouan, El Kharroubi says he is cautiously optimistic that more young Moroccans will win seats in parliament this year.

He founded the Environment and Sustainability Party, seeking to channel growing youth engagement into formal politics.

“The previous protests by Gen Z have sparked more youth engagement in political parties. We expect this year to have exceptional participation from youth, both in voting and campaigning,” he told Al Jazeera English.

The demonstrations came nearly a year before Wednesday’s parliamentary election.

The nationwide demonstrations began on September 27, 2025, after anger over public healthcare, education, jobs and living conditions spread beyond earlier protests in Agadir.

The unrest followed the deaths of eight women after Caesarean deliveries at a public hospital in the southern city, which became a flashpoint for wider grievances over public services.

A leaderless movement calling itself GenZ 212 mobilised largely online through platforms including Discord, TikTok and Instagram, demanding better public healthcare and education, more job opportunities, and an end to corruption and what protesters saw as misplaced public spending.

At least three people were killed during the unrest in October 2025.

The protests highlighted a challenge for Wednesday’s parliamentary election: many young people who took to the streets to demand change remain disengaged from formal politics.

More than 15.8 million people are registered to vote in the September 23 election, which will determine all 395 seats in Morocco’s House of Representatives. But only about four percent of registered voters are aged between 18 and 24, according to figures based on the electoral rolls finalised in July.

By contrast, people aged 60 and above make up more than 29 percent of the electorate, while those aged 35 to 44 account for 21 percent. In the 2021 election, turnout was just over 50 percent.

‘A real place in the debate’

For Az-el Arab Hilmi, 32, who works with the secretariat of the Federation of the Democratic Left (FGD) in Tifelt, the lesson of the Gen Z protests is that young people are no longer willing to settle for “traditional political discourse or general promises”.

“There is a generation that wants to see tangible results in its daily life: good education, public healthcare that preserves dignity, real job opportunities and fairness in the distribution of opportunities,” Hilmi told Al Jazeera English between campaign events in Tifelt.

Young candidates are seeking seats in Morocco’s parliament as the country prepares to vote on September 23, with youth participation a key focus of this year’s campaign [Hajar Elkahlaoui/Al Jazeera]

But Hilmi says political parties cannot wait for election campaigns to respond to those concerns.

“For me, this is the politics worth betting on: giving young people not just a place in the front rows during campaigns, but a real place in the debate, in decision-making and in taking responsibility,” he said.

Hilmi’s own involvement in politics began in 2016, when he joined the FGD after being drawn to a parliamentary campaign by Omar Balafrej, then one of the party’s prominent figures.

“What struck me was not only the campaign discourse, but the way Balafrej spoke in simple, direct language and presented himself as a politician who could be held accountable, not as someone distant from citizens,” Hilmi said.

Balafrej won a Rabat seat that year and did not run again in 2021. In October, GenZ 212, a movement with no ties to political parties, held an open discussion with him on its Discord server about democracy, political responsibility and the role of young people in political change. The group described Balafrej as a supporter of its youth movement and peaceful activism.

Youth engagement in politics

Moubarak Toumi, 18, who joined the Socialist Union of Popular Forces’ regional secretariat in Casablanca-Settat three years ago, sees the distance between young Moroccans and politics as partly inherited.

“A common piece of advice passed down from elders was to ‘walk close to the wall’, to keep a low profile, avoid trouble, and ensure stability in daily life,” said Toumi. That mindset persisted, he said, alongside notions such as the “200-dirham mentality”, a phrase tied to the cash sometimes handed to voters.

Campaigners for a political party in Morocco ahead of the September 23 parliamentary election [Hajar Elkahlaoui/Al Jazeera]

“Today, however, we must renew our thinking and engage more actively to build a better future,” he continued.

Toumi attributes disengagement in part to frustration over “unmet promises on healthcare, education and employment despite massive budgets”.

He sees joining political parties as one way of responding to those concerns.

Morocco’s youth unemployment remains a persistent economic problem. In 2025, the official unemployment rate was 13 percent, rising to 37.2 percent among people aged 15 to 24, according to the High Commission for Planning.

What can an election change?

The election is also a test of what can be achieved through formal politics. Morocco’s political system gives the monarchy a central institutional role, while elected governments are responsible for public policy and legislation.

For Hilmi, that means young voters should distinguish between what political parties can promise and what they can realistically deliver.

“No party can fix every problem as soon as it reaches a council or a position of responsibility, but we can expect something essential from it: that it commits to what it said, explains to people what it can and cannot do, and practises politics responsibly and transparently,” he said.

A vote, in his view, should instead begin a relationship between citizens and their representatives, one in which young people continue to “monitor, ask, criticise and demand accountability”.

“The election is not a blank cheque,” he noted.

年轻候选人希望这次选举能将年轻人的不满转化为政治参与。

在摩洛哥青年候选人积极参与竞选活动，为9月23日的议会选举造势。此前近一年，由Z世代领导的抗议活动将民众带上街头，要求改善公共服务、增加就业机会并加强政治问责。[Hajar Elkahlaoui/半岛电视台]

摩洛哥拉巴特——近一年前，环保企业家哈姆扎·埃尔·哈鲁比还在街头抗议。本周，这位28岁的年轻人正在竞选议员席位。

埃尔·哈鲁比在得土安进行政治拉票时表示，他对今年会有更多摩洛哥年轻人赢得议会席位持谨慎乐观态度。

他创立了环境与可持续发展党，旨在引导日益增长的青年参与进入正规政治领域。

“此前Z世代的抗议活动激发了更多年轻人参与政党的热情。我们预计今年年轻人的参与度将异常高，无论是在投票还是竞选活动中，”他告诉半岛电视台英语频道。

这些示威活动发生在周三议会选举前近一年。

2025 年 9 月 27 日，全国范围内的示威活动开始，此前，民众对公共医疗保健、教育、就业和生活条件的不满情绪蔓延至阿加迪尔以外的地区。

这场骚乱的起因是南部城市一家公立医院发生8名妇女在剖腹产后死亡的事件，这起事件成为民众对公共服务普遍不满的导火索。

一个名为 GenZ 212 的无领导运动主要通过 Discord、TikTok 和 Instagram 等平台在线动员起来，要求改善公共医疗保健和教育，增加就业机会，结束腐败以及抗议者认为的错配公共支出。

2025年10月发生的骚乱中，至少有三人丧生。

抗议活动凸显了周三议会选举面临的一个挑战：许多走上街头要求变革的年轻人仍然与正式政治脱节。

超过1580万人登记参加9月23日的选举，此次选举将决定摩洛哥众议院全部395个席位的归属。但根据7月份最终确定的选民名册数据，登记选民中只有约4%的人年龄在18岁至24岁之间。

相比之下，60岁及以上选民占选民总数的29%以上，35岁至44岁选民占21%。2021年大选的投票率略高于50%。

“在辩论中占有一席之地”

32 岁的 Az-el Arab Hilmi 在蒂费尔特的民主左翼联盟 (FGD) 秘书处工作，他认为 Z 世代抗议活动的教训是，年轻人不再愿意满足于“传统的政治话语或笼统的承诺”。

“有一代人希望在日常生活中看到切实的结果：良好的教育、维护尊严的公共医疗保健、真正的就业机会以及机会分配的公平性，”希尔米在蒂费尔特参加竞选活动间隙告诉半岛电视台英语频道。

随着摩洛哥准备在9月23日举行议会选举，年轻的候选人正在争取议会席位，青年参与是今年竞选活动的重点。[Hajar Elkahlaoui/半岛电视台]

但希尔米表示，各政党不能等到竞选活动开始才回应这些关切。

他说：“对我来说，这才是值得押注的政治：不仅让年轻人在竞选活动中坐在前排，而且让他们在辩论、决策和承担责任方面拥有真正的地位。”

希尔米本人参与政治始于 2016 年，当时他被奥马尔·巴拉弗雷吉（Omar Balafrej）——当时该党的一位杰出人物——吸引，加入了 FGD 党参加议会竞选。

希尔米说：“让我印象深刻的不仅是竞选言论，还有巴拉弗雷用简单直接的语言讲话，以及他把自己塑造成一个可以被追究责任的政治家，而不是一个与民众疏远的人。”

巴拉弗雷杰当年赢得了拉巴特的一个席位，2021年没有再次参选。10月，一个名为“GenZ 212”的青年运动组织在其Discord服务器上与他进行了一场公开讨论，主题包括民主、政治责任以及青年在政治变革中的作用。该组织称巴拉弗雷杰是其青年运动和和平行动主义的支持者。

青年参与政治

18 岁的 Moubarak Toumi 三年前加入了卡萨布兰卡-塞塔特社会主义人民力量联盟地区秘书处，他认为摩洛哥年轻人与政治之间的距离部分是遗传的。

图米说：“长辈们常传下来的一条建议是‘走在墙边’，保持低调，避免麻烦，确保日常生活稳定。” 他说，这种观念一直延续至今，同时还存在着诸如“200迪拉姆心态”之类的说法，这个词指的是有时人们会给选民发放的200迪拉姆现金。

摩洛哥某政党竞选人员在9月23日议会选举前进行竞选活动 [Hajar Elkahlaoui/半岛电视台]

“然而，今天我们必须更新思维方式，更加积极地参与建设更美好的未来，”他继续说道。

图米认为，民众的不参与部分原因是“尽管预算庞大，但在医疗保健、教育和就业方面却没有兑现承诺”。

他认为加入政党是应对这些问题的一种方式。

摩洛哥青年失业问题依然是一个长期存在的经济难题。据高级规划委员会预测，到2025年，官方失业率为13%，而15至24岁人群的失业率将高达37.2%。

选举能改变什么？

此次选举也是对正规政治体系所能取得成就的一次检验。摩洛哥的政治体制赋予君主制核心的制度性作用，而民选政府则负责公共政策和立法。

希尔米认为，这意味着年轻选民应该区分政党能够做出的承诺和他们能够实际兑现的承诺。

他说：“任何政党都不可能一进入议会或担任要职就解决所有问题，但我们可以期待它做到一些至关重要的事情：那就是信守承诺，向人民解释它能做什么和不能做什么，并以负责任和透明的方式从事政治活动。”

在他看来，投票应该开启公民与其代表之间的关系，在这种关系中，年轻人可以继续“监督、提问、批评和要求问责”。

“选举不是一张空白支票，”他指出。