A new Moroccan political party grouping King Mohammed's staunch supporters has won most seats in local elections, preliminary official results showed on Saturday.

With more than 80 percent of seats counted, the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) had 4,854 seats, ahead of the governing Istiqlal (Independence) party with 4,246 seats, according to figures from the Interior Ministry carried by the state news agency MAP.

PAM has positioned itself as an alternative to both opposition Islamists and Istiqlal.

The vote was the first major test for the governing coalition of conservatives and socialists since the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) scored its best result in 2007 legislative polls.

The PJD, which fielded far fewer candidates than PAM and Istiqlal, was not named among the five top parties in the results.

The government lost its parliamentary majority last month when PAM withdrew its support.

Reuters