Tangier’s mayor, Mounir Limouri, landed at Ibn Battouta Airport on Sunday after several days in Spain, ending a period of uncertainty over his legal situation as an investigation into alleged irregularities during last week’s legislative election gathers pace.
Judicial sources say Limouri is expected to be referred to Tangier’s judicial police under an arrest warrant tied to an inquiry opened after ballot papers were found in the possession of an individual near a polling station at Al-Qods school. The discovery, made shortly after the September 23 vote, triggered widespread controversy in the Tangier-Assilah constituency.
Limouri’s name surfaced in the case because of his dual role as regional coordinator of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) in Tangier and director of the party’s local campaign. His trip to Málaga, which came just as the inquiry was opening, fed rumors that he might be avoiding investigators, a suggestion he firmly rejected.
At the time, the mayor insisted the visit was purely professional, describing it as a series of meetings with business partners and clients unrelated to the ballot-tampering allegations. Whether that explanation holds will likely become clearer now that he is back on Moroccan soil and within reach of prosecutors overseeing the case.
The affair is one of several disputes to emerge from the September 23 legislative vote, with candidates and observers in multiple constituencies flagging irregularities ranging from procedural lapses to more serious allegations of tampering. Morocco’s judicial authorities have pledged a firm response to any attempt to compromise the integrity of the ballot.
With Limouri now back in Tangier, investigators are expected to summon him for questioning in the coming days, a step that could prove decisive for a case that has already stirred heated debate among local politicians and in the northern city’s media. The outcome will be closely watched, given what it could reveal about the resilience of Morocco’s electoral safeguards in one of its most closely contested constituencies.
