In the opening days of this week, while most political parties were still finalizing their electoral rosters, one candidate in Taroudant-Nord had already made his move. Lahcen Saadi, a member of the political bureau of the National Rally of Independents (RNI), became the first contender to formally submit his candidacy file with the local authorities for Morocco’s upcoming legislative elections, a head start that local observers read as a deliberate show of confidence from the party controlling Morocco’s government.
Saadi will lead the RNI’s list in Taroudant-Nord, according to local sources, flanked by two running mates: Ahmed Zahidi, the party’s regional coordinator, in second position, and Yazza Ait Waala, president of the Sidi Bouaal commune within the Iguerm cluster, rounding out the list in third place. It is a lineup that pairs a nationally recognized figure with candidates rooted in the district’s communal politics, a formula RNI has increasingly relied on to defend its rural strongholds.
The choice of Saadi as list leader is hardly a surprise. He currently serves as Secretary of State for Handicrafts and the Social and Solidarity Economy, and he chairs RNI’s National Youth Federation, giving him both a cabinet platform and a party-building role. His track record in Taroudant-Nord is equally hard to ignore: in the 2021 legislative elections, he won more than 56,000 votes there, finishing well ahead of every rival, a margin that now sets a high bar for anyone hoping to unseat him.
Filing early rarely happens by accident in Moroccan electoral politics, and Saadi’s move signals how seriously RNI is treating a constituency where handicrafts, agriculture and the solidarity economy, the very portfolios he oversees in government, remain central to voters’ daily concerns. Whether his cabinet record translates into another commanding win, or instead becomes a target for rivals eager to hold the outgoing government accountable, will only become clear as the rest of the district’s lists take shape in the coming weeks.
