(Adds background on Benkiran)
By Lamine Ghanmi
RABAT, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Morocco's main Islamist opposition Justice and Development Party (PJD) plans to focus on the everyday concerns of voters rather than on religion in the election campaign, a party leader said.
Pundits expect it to advance in the Sept. 7 parliamentary election and it may emerge as the largest group in a poll contested by more than 30 parties.
Observers see the PJD performance as a measure of the scale of disillusionment towards the secular and liberal elites that have ruled Morocco over the past 50 years.
Parliament has only limited powers in the North African country where the king controls key areas from the army to religious affairs, as well as appointing the prime minister and vetoing laws.
Analysts say the election should, however, help to revitalise parts of the ruling elite body.
"Our agenda is without doubt inspired by our Islamic background but a religious background linked to the citizen's needs," leading PJD figure Abdelilah Benkiran told Reuters.
"The citizens suffer from poverty, unemployment, a housing crisis and problems in education and healthcare," Benkiran told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
"Frankly, the citizens would not back us in the polls to impose veils on women and force men to grow beards and people to come to mosques," he added.
Benkiran is one of the most influential figures in the PJD. He heads the Tawhid wal Islah (Unity and Reform) Islamic civic association from which the party draws many of its activists, top officials and most of its voter basis.
Morocco's secular establishment sees strengthening moderate Islamists as a religious bulwark against the rise of radical Islamists and al Qaeda's North African wing jihadists, who have vowed to step up attacks against "infidels" and their allies.
The PJD, founded in 1996, has 42 seats in the current 325-member parliament.
It has pledged to fight corruption and create jobs in a country where an estimated 40 percent of the 30 million people live in poverty.
The PJD promises to trim unemployment in cities from 15.5 percent currently to 12.5 percent and from 3.5 percent to 2.5 percent in rural areas. It wants to double the rate of economic growth to seven percent.
"Fighting corruption is a PJD priority. Without ending corruption, Morocco would never develop its economy and society even if it pours huge money into development projects," Benkiran said.
Morocco appears to be struggling to curb corruption. It was 45th in corruption watchdog Transparency International's survey in 1999 but had slumped to 78th in its latest survey.
