RABAT, 9 September 2007 — Morocco’s oldest political party Istiqlal emerged yesterday as the biggest in parliament after an election marred by the lowest turnout ever recorded in the North African nation.
The nationalist Istiqlal won 52 seats, five more than the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), according to preliminary results quoted by Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa. The Union of Socialist Popular Forces (USFP) trailed in third place with 36 seats.
Benmoussa said the turnout was just 37 percent of the 15.5 million electorate, down from 52 percent in the last election in 2002. Held back by Morocco’s proportional representation system, no party has a majority and intense negotiations over forming a governing coalition will now follow.
Istiqlal was founded in 1944 and played a major role in campaigning for independence from France which was achieved in 1956. It got 16 percent of the vote to add four seats to its total from the last election in 2002. The Islamist party cried foul after failing to become the biggest party as it had hoped for. “Money from our rivals was changing hands all over the place,” the PJD No. 2 Lahcen Daoudi said. Pledging to wipe out corruption, the party had hoped to win between 70 and 80 seats in Friday’s polls, up from 42 in the last Parliament.
The breakthrough would have caused a political headache for the reformist King Mohammed VI.
The USFP was down from 50 seats in the last election in 2002, when it joined with Istiqlal to lead a five party coalition to keep the PJD out of the government.
International observers were also to report their preliminary findings late yesterday. Observers said the Islamists had not grasped the need to pick strong local candidates. Political science specialist Mohamed Darif said Istiqlal and the MP are “electoral machines that know how to win over their clientele.”
“In a conservative society like Morocco, people don’t vote for groups but for people according to their religion, ethnic background and then their political program.” The parties mostly fall under three main headings: the left and center-right parties that are part of the current governing coalition; Islamist formations, including the PJD, which is the main opposition; and extreme left groups.
The electoral system makes it virtually impossible for a single party to gain an absolute majority. Mainstream parties are unlikely to link up with the PJD this time either.
The interior minister admitted the turnout was disappointing. Voter disaffection has been steadily increasing over the years. In 1984 turnout was officially 67.43 percent, although there were many irregularities.
“The challenge today is to think of the best way of mobilizing the electorate in support of political action. That is everybody’s responsibility: officials, political parties and civil society,” he said.
Some voters had difficulties in understanding procedure. Each competing group of candidates chose a symbol so illiterate voters would recognize the party. Nearly half of the population is illiterate.
In Ain El Aouda, a rural community 25 kilometers (15 miles) outside Rabat, 44-year-old laborer Mouamar Jaouadi regretted that no information campaign was organized in his village. “The majority of people here are illiterate country people and one will find among them men and women who had difficulty in understanding how to vote,” he said, as he waited outside the voting center in the midday sun.
