The Justice and Development Party (PJD, moderate Islamist) is collapsing, dropping from 125 seats in the outgoing assembly to 12, Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit said during a press briefing. It comes far behind its main rivals, the National Rally of Independents (RNI), the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), both liberal in tendency, and the Istiqlal Party (center-right), with respectively 97, 82 and 78 (out of 395 deputies).
The RNI, which belongs to the governing coalition, is headed by a wealthy businessman, Aziz Akhannouch. And the PAM, the main opposition formation, was founded by the current royal advisor, Fouad Ali El Himma, in 2008 before he resigned in 2011. The Istiqlal (Independence) party, from center-right, he is the oldest party in Morocco.
His Majesty King Mohammed VI will appoint a head of government, from the party that won the legislative elections, responsible for forming an executive for a five-year term, succeeding Saad-Eddine El Othmani.
The participation rate reached 50.35% nationally, according to the Minister of the Interior. It had capped at 43% during the previous legislative elections in 2016 and at 53% during the last local elections in 2015. But this is the first time that some 18 million voters have chosen their 395 deputies on the same day as their municipal representatives. and regional. Which reduced the abstention.
Earlier in the evening, the Islamists reported “serious irregularities”, including “the obscene distribution of money” near polling stations and “confusion” on some electoral lists, citizens not finding their name. The voting operations took place “under normal circumstances”, said Mr. Laftit, except “isolated cases”.
In 2011, Morocco adopted a new Constitution granting broad prerogatives to Parliament and the government. However, decisions and orientations in key sectors continue to emanate from initiatives of King Mohammed VI.
