By: Mohamed Nabil Benabdellah: Secretary General of the Party of Progress and Socialism
For approximately ten days, we traversed the country, from major cities to the most remote and isolated communities. Everywhere, we sensed anger and discontent, yes, but we also found a strong and profoundly legitimate aspiration: an aspiration for a more just, more dignified Morocco, more faithful to the promises and prospects it holds for each of its sons and daughters.
As the election campaign nears its end, the fundamental question remains: what kind of Morocco do we want to build? And with whom?
For the Party of Progress and Socialism, the left holds the key to change within its political culture, because it carries a deeply rooted conviction at its core: that social justice, integrity, and reformist boldness are not mere options, but the sole condition for a Morocco worthy of its ambitions and its history.
Being a leftist in Morocco of 2026 means, first and foremost, refusing to coexist with the unacceptable, with the negatives, shortcomings, and imbalances of the current situation:
Refusing to coexist with 2.5 million Moroccans living below the poverty line, 72% of whom are in rural areas;
Refusing to coexist with 3.2 million citizens living in a state of vulnerability due to a government's failure to fulfill its commitments;
Refusing to coexist with the continued exclusion of 8.5 million citizens from health coverage;
Refusing to coexist with unemployment affecting 13% of the active population and 37% of our youth, with 2.9 million young people not working, studying, or receiving any training – the "NEET" category condemned to marginalization;
Refusing to coexist with a female labor force participation rate not exceeding 19%, and with Morocco ranking 91st globally in the Corruption Perception Index;
Being a leftist today means seeing Morocco as Moroccans live it, not as it is described by the affluent. It means daring to speak aloud about what the people experience in silence.
The Historical Moment and Responsibility
The Party of Progress and Socialism is by no means a party that sows despair; quite the contrary, it is a party of hope, optimism, and opening horizons.
Morocco is currently experiencing a historic moment, marked by the consolidation of international recognition for the Sahara's autonomy initiative under Moroccan sovereignty, and numerous achievements in the political, economic, and social spheres, following decades of collective effort in the struggle for development and democracy.
These accomplishments and gains belong to the entire nation and inspire pride. However, there is also a need for a deep and critical look at the areas of backwardness and shortcomings that mar the path towards building a Morocco of progress and prosperity, in order to address injustice, exclusion, and disparities that still characterize our social and spatial development.
The achievements made required an ambition that the outgoing government lacked, ethics that it did not embody, and reforms that it deliberately ignored. During its term, the rentier economy deepened, moral degradation worsened within certain elites and political and economic spheres, and the development model was intentionally left without a practical compass or structural reform. The foundations were there, but they were diverted from their course.
What Does It Take to Be a Leftist Today?
Being a leftist today means defending public hospitals, ensuring quality healthcare, and access to an efficient health institution within less than an hour. It means putting an end to the medical vacuum that sometimes condemns populations in remote areas and the rural world to death from treatable diseases.
Being a leftist today means defending public schools and public universities as the primary social elevator, enhancing the status and dignity of educators, and re-establishing meritocracy at the heart of every professional or academic path. It means rejecting the idea that a child born into a modest family, an isolated rural community, or a marginalized neighborhood is condemned to a predetermined fate.
Being a leftist today means establishing a dignified minimum income for families living in multidimensional poverty, not based on an unfair administrative criterion, but on the reality of their lived vulnerability. It means affirming that solidarity is the bedrock upon which all collective ambition is built.
Being a leftist today means striving to consolidate democracy, to fully and properly implement the constitution, to safeguard the status and prerogatives of democratic institutions, and to defend freedoms. It means diligently working to promote human rights, establish equality between men and women, and build an independent and just judiciary.
Being a leftist today means liberating entrepreneurial initiative by breaking the back of the rentier economy and definitively cutting ties with serving lobbies and oligarchies, so that merit and initiative create real wealth for the greatest number of citizens. It means purifying the business climate and removing all bureaucratic obstacles. It means supporting micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, building a modern, strong, and sovereign industrial sector, and transitioning from a rentier economy to a value-added economy.
Being a leftist today means considering the Amazigh issue as a matter of democracy, social justice, and territorial justice. It means ensuring true equality between men and women, making it a cornerstone of the rule of law, and unleashing the energies of youth left on the margins and deprived of future prospects and hopes.
Being a leftist today means positioning oneself on the international stage in defense of a world order based on law and multilateralism, striving to strengthen Morocco's position as a bridge between Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and as a stronger actor in the geopolitical shifts currently shaking the world, and supporting just causes worldwide, foremost among them the Palestinian cause.
Being a leftist today also means embracing transparency as a commitment and a choice. It means obligating every party representative with a public mandate to adhere to an ethical charter that enshries financial integrity, rejects conflicts of interest, and pledges loyalty to the party's program, because the integrity of public life is an indispensable condition for the success and credibility of any reform.
Being a leftist today is not a nostalgic or romantic stance. It is about having the courage and taking the initiative for a concrete and specific programmatic commitment, measured in numbers and carrying responsibility – a commitment to transparency and accountability.
Being a leftist today is not merely claiming affiliation with a glorious legacy; it is an extension of that legacy through actions and positions.
Today, the window of opportunity is open for our country. The time has come to seize it, through a political, responsible, courageous, and competent government that fully exercises all the powers granted to it by the constitution.
The Left We Want to Help Build
We state this clearly, without abandoning our conviction: this electoral juncture has not provided an opportunity to achieve the unity of leftist forces that we have been calling for. Each leftist party has chosen to contest the elections on its own, with its own candidates. We fully respect this choice. However, we remain convinced that the unity of the left remains a historical and societal necessity, and that this unity can only be the fruit of a collective process, based on shared values, programmatic convergences, and a sincere will to prioritize the common over everything that divides us.
The history of the Moroccan left reminds us that its divisions have, on more than one occasion, weakened its ability to carry the aspirations of those it defends. The challenge today and tomorrow is to foster a dynamic of rapprochement, dialogue, and cooperation, respecting the diversity of our Moroccan left, so that its forces can better and more effectively unite their energies in service of Morocco and Moroccans.
To all who have a heart that beats for the left, to all who harbor doubts, and to all who refuse defeatism, we reiterate today with the same conviction: Morocco needs a progressive and democratic alternative more than ever, one that only the forces of the left can offer, thanks to ethics, values, principles, and genuine programmatic convergences, and by prioritizing that high and selfless spirit that will elevate the common and reject division.
Across the world, a new aspiration is being expressed: an aspiration for a left that combines convictions with reality, responsibility with values, efficiency with effectiveness, and links its ideals of justice with a concrete understanding of societal transformations. A left rooted in its environment, close to citizens, open to the world, and capable of mobilizing all energies and competencies within its ranks. A left that does not merely denounce, but proposes, acts, and takes responsibility for changing reality. This is the left through which we want to contribute to the consolidation of building Morocco.
A left that mobilizes all of society's intelligence. A left that can revive trust.
From the mountains of our beloved Morocco to its oases in the south, from its ancient villages and cities to its urban hubs, Moroccans are innovating, working, building, and hoping. They deserve a homeland that protects them, an economy that integrates them, a democracy that respects them, and representatives who honor them with their commitment and integrity.
Being a leftist in Morocco of 2026 means believing that our country deserves the best, and working for change. So let's all rise to the occasion.
By: Mohamed Nabil Benabdellah
On September 20, 2026
