RABAT, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Despite unpopular policies, Morocco's ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) has passed election test and won parliamentary elections.
The PJD won 125 seats out of 395-seat parliament, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday, marked by an increase from the 107 seats it got in Morocco's last parliamentary election in 2011.
Meanwhile, the PJD's main rival, the liberal opposition Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) made a significant advance of winning 102 seats. The party got 47 seats in 2011 elections.
The Istiqlal Party got 46 seats, and smaller parties won the remaining seats.
PAM was pleased with the outcome of the elections, Khaled Adnoun, the party spokesman told the press after release of the official results, saying that though they were expecting to grab more seats.
Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane, on his part, announced Saturday that "democracy won in Moroccan elections" after the PJD has won 99 seats in the parliament, taking a prominent lead in the elections.
Protests in 2011 led to a new constitution and a parliamentary vote was held in late that year, which brought Abdelilah Benkirane's PJD to power.
The PJD-led government has taken some unpopular policies in the last five years, particularly the pension system reform and subsidies reduction on several products.
According to Morocco's constitution, passed in 2011 after the so called Arab Spring uprisings, the winning party will lead the coalition government. The king appoints a prime minister from the biggest party in parliament after the election results are announced.
Around 15.7 million Moroccans have been registered to vote in these elections, but the voter turnout stood at 43 percent.
Some 4,000 national and international observers have been accredited to monitor the parliamentary elections in Morocco.
