Islamists thrashed in Morocco election

Parties seen as close to Morocco's king have dealt a crushing blow to the long-ruling Islamists in parliamentary elections, preliminary results on Thursday showed.

The Justice and Development Party (PJD), which had headed the governing coalition for a decade, saw its support collapse from 125 seats in the outgoing assembly to just 12, Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit told reporters after Wednesday's vote.

Following its demise, the PJD leadership, including current chief and outgoing premier Saad-Eddine El Othmani, resigned on Thursday, the party said. The PJD will now return to its "natural" role in the opposition, a statement said, adding that it will hold an emergency congress as soon as possible.

The PJD was far behind its main rivals, the National Rally of Independents (RNI) and the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), with 97 and 82 seats respectively, and the centre-right Istiqlal party with 78 in the 395-seat assembly.

The Istiqlal (Independence) party, Morocco's oldest, made a remarkable comeback, adding 32 seats.

The RNI, which was a junior member of the governing coalition, is headed by billionaire businessman Aziz Akhannouch, described as close to the palace.

And the main opposition PAM was founded by current royal adviser Fouad Ali El Himma in 2008.

Akhannouch hailed "the popular will for change", calling the results "a victory for democracy".    (AFP)