RABAT - Morocco's largest opposition party Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) elected its new leader on Sunday.

Hakim Benchamach, also the speaker of the House of Advisors, the higher chamber of the Moroccan parliament, was elected as PAM's new secretary general at the end of an extraordinary session held in the northwestern city of Sale near the capital Rabat.

He won 439 votes in the party's national council, against 39 and 35 votes for his competitors Mohamed Soulouh and Hadi El Hiba respectively.

PAM's previous secretary general Ilyas El Omari resigned last year amid troubles since its defeat in the parliamentary election by ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party in October 2016.