Around 16 million voters have registered for Morocco's parliamentary elections next month, an official source said Thursday.
The country of 34 million is gearing up for the vote on October 7, in which the main opposition party has vowed to "liberate" the country from the scandal-tainted ruling Islamists.
Around 30 parties are vying for seats in the elections, but the main battle is expected to play out between the opposition Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) and the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD).
With campaigning officially starting on September 25, the electoral commission on Thursday called on candidates to campaign "with honesty and a sense of duty", the official news agency MAP reported.
The PJD is expected to fight for its survival, especially after a series of scandals including a beachside tryst, a three-tonne drug bust and a dodgy attempted land deal.
After years in opposition, the PJD found itself the head of a coalition government in 2011, tasked with guiding Morocco through a turbulent period that saw many regional countries shaken by Arab Spring uprisings.
But in 2015, the PJD lost to the PAM in municipal elections.
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