With Morocco’s 2026 legislative and municipal elections drawing closer, a subtle but telling shift is taking shape inside the territorial administration of the Casablanca-Settat region. According to sources familiar with the matter, local authorities — starting with the regional wali — are now visibly avoiding joint public appearances with elected officials at ceremonies and seasonal events likely to attract media coverage.
The pattern was especially noticeable during the opening of the Moulay Abdellah moussem, where elected representatives and local association leaders were conspicuously absent from the official lineup alongside the wali. A similar approach reportedly played out during several infrastructure inaugurations held in recent weeks, with authorities opting for strictly administrative photo opportunities rather than shared appearances with local politicians.
Sources say the shift reflects a deliberate commitment to administrative neutrality, a principle that carries particular weight in Morocco during the run-up to elections. The stated goal is to prevent the symbolic weight of public institutions from being read, even indirectly, as favoring any single candidate or party in the race for parliamentary and council seats. That caution appears sharper in competitive districts, and Casablanca — the country’s largest and most politically contested metropolis — sits squarely among them.
Officials insist the move is not the product of an explicit directive from the central government, but rather a cautious, self-imposed reading of the tightening electoral climate by territorial administrators themselves. Regular coordination channels between the administration and elected bodies, they add, remain fully functional and continue operating under the legal frameworks governing local public services.
The episode fits a broader pattern seen ahead of virtually every Moroccan election cycle: a territorial administration eager to shield itself from any accusation of political interference. With public trust in the integrity of the vote remaining a central concern, even symbolic gestures of this kind form part of a wider effort to ensure the process is seen as fair by every political force in contention. Whether this protocol rigor holds through election day, or loosens once the official campaign period formally begins, remains an open question.
