Some 16 million Moroccans are eligible to vote in Friday`s elections, with 30 parties competing for places in the second elections since constitutional reform.
Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane`s ruling Justice and Development Party (PJD) swept to victory in 2011, after King Mohammed VI agreed to certain concessions at the time of the Arab Spring.
A change to the constitution transferred some of the monarch`s powers to the parliament, and the PJD says a second term would allow it to push ahead with social and economic reforms.
Benkirane has trumpeted the PJD`s economic reforms - having lowered the budget deficit - and its popular anti-corruption stance in a bid to boost his moderate Islamist party`s showing in parliament.
However, the liberal opposition Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) has channeled significant resources into a campaign that lambasts the PJD`s economic record as "catastrophic."
It also accuses Benkirane of harboring a hardline religious agenda and points at a series of scandals including a drugs bust and a land-grab deal.
Complex political groupings
Among other things, the PAM wants to legalize cannabis and bring more women into parliament. However, opponents claim the party is backed by a monarchy that wants to undermine the PJD`s power.
Both parties are very much minorities in the outgoing parliament - PAM not even being the second largest party and leading a coalition of wildly varying political outlooks.
The PJD also heads a diverse political grouping, including communists, liberals and conservatives.
A number of parties have fielded ultra-conservative Salafists, indicating that hardline Islamists are playing an increasing role in Moroccan politics.
Moroccans vote as elections pit Islamists against liberals
07 October 2016
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Moroccans are heading to the polls to vote for a new parliament, five years after an Islamist-led government came to power. While liberals hope to reverse religious reforms, real power still rests with the king.
