2007 Moroccan general election

Parliamentary elections were held in Morocco on 7 September 2007,[1] the second of King Mohammed VI's reign. Voter turnout was estimated to be 37%, the lowest in Moroccan political history.[2] There were 33 different parties and 13 independent candidates competing for 325 assembly seats. An amount of $61 million was allocated by the Moroccan government to organize the 2007 elections.[3]

2007 Moroccan general election
Morocco
7 September 2007

325 seats in the House of Representatives
163 seats needed for a majority
PartyLeader % Seats +/–
Istiqlal Abbas El Fassi 8.51 52 +4
PJD Saadeddine Othmani 9.15 46 +4
MP Mohand Laenser 7.30 41 +14
RNI Ahmed Osman 7.65 39 -2
USFP Mohamed El Yazghi 7.00 38 -12
UC Mohamed Abied 2.92 27 +11
PPS Ismail Alaoui 4.38 17 +6
FFD Thami Khiari 3.57 9 -3
MDS Mahmoud Archane 2.90 9 +2
PNDAl Ahd 3.12 11 New
Labour 2.44 5 New
PED Ahmed Alami 2.00 5 +3
PADSCNIPSU 1.90 6 New
PRE 1.56 4 New
PND Abdellah Kadiri 0.49 3 -9
UMD 1.33 2 New
Socialist Abdelmajid Bouzoubaa 1.21 2 New
ICD 0.89 1 New
PRV Mohamed Khalidi 0.66 1 New
Citizens' Forces Abderrahim Lahyuyi 0.57 1 -1
Alliance of Liberties 0.30 1 -3
Independent 0.71 5 +5
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
Driss Jettou
Independent
Abbas El Fassi
Istiqlal

The number of constituencies was increased from 91 to 95 before this election.[4] Interior minister Chakib Benmoussa claimed the changes were made "in accordance with objectivity and transparency."[4] However, BBC correspondent Richard Hamilton accused the government of gerrymandering in order to prevent the Justice and Development Party from winning.[5]

According to many analysts the complex voting system makes it almost impossible for any group to win an outright majority, although others have disagreed with this view, arguing that the electoral system is not particularly unusual and should favor large parties.. Whatever the outcome, real power will remain with the king, who is executive head of state, military chief and religious leader.[6]

For the first time in the history of elections in Morocco, they are being monitored by foreign observers including the U.S.'s National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and 42 others.[3]

Turnout in the election was only 37% - the lowest in the history of Moroccan national elections. The Socialist Union of People's Forces (USFP), the largest party in the outgoing government lost nearly a quarter of its seats, and was replaced as the largest party by its coalition partner, the Istiqlal Party. The main gainers were the pro-government liberal People's Movement and Constitutional Union parties. The opposition Islamist Justice and Development Party had a modest increase in its tally as did the pro-government leftist Party of Progress and Socialism.

Following the election the USFP was expected to leave the governing coalition.[7] Istiqlal Party leader Abbas El Fassi became PM on 19 September 2007.

Results

PartyNationalConstituencyTotal
seats
+/–
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
Justice and Development Party545,63613.356503,39610.934046+4
Istiqlal Party480,56111.766494,25610.734652+4
National Rally of Independents429,05310.505447,2449.713439–4
Popular Movement410,19710.045426,8499.263641+14
Socialist Union of Popular Forces389,4719.535408,9458.883338–12
Party of Progress and Socialism253,9296.213248,1035.381417+6
PNDAl-ʽAhd Union217,8275.330139,6883.0388
Front of Democratic Forces200,8464.910207,9824.5199–3
Democratic and Social Movement163,7994.010168,9603.6799+2
Labour Party139,9073.420140,2243.0455+5
Environment and Development Party133,0233.260131,5242.8555+3
PADSCNIPSU Union119,6882.93098,2022.1355
Party of Renewal and Equity95,4562.34083,5161.8144+4
Moroccan Union for Democracy76,0491.86076,7951.6722+2
Socialist Party70,6071.73067,7861.4722+2
Moroccan Liberal Party58,4191.43046,5261.0100–3
Citizen Initiative for Development51,2171.25050,2781.0911+1
Reform and Development Party50,2851.23047,1411.0200–3
Party of Renaissance and Virtue39,1340.96036,7810.8011+1
Citizens' Forces33,7640.83031,2070.6811–1
Democratic Independence Party35,9220.88031,1050.6800–2
Action Party30,7890.75024,3840.53000
Social Centre Party26,2400.64022,8260.50000
Party of Hope23,1070.57016,3760.36000
Party of Liberty and Social Justice11,5680.2805,4520.12000
Constitutional Union335,1167.272727+11
Al-ʽAhd57,9521.2633
National Democratic Party56,1761.2233
Alliance of Liberties34,8010.7611–3
National Ittihadi Congress25,6950.5611
Unified Socialist Party20,3530.4400
Al-Badil al-Hadari Party15,6000.34000
Democratic Socialist Party10,9730.2400–6
Renaissance Party10,1560.22000
Socialist Democratic Vanguard Party3,7610.0800
Independents81,3641.7755+5
Total4,086,494100.00304,607,493100.002953250
Valid votes4,086,49471.434,607,49380.29
Invalid/blank votes1,634,57928.571,131,39319.71
Total votes5,721,073100.005,738,886100.00
Registered voters/turnout15,462,36237.0015,462,36237.12
Source: Desrues & Garcia

References

  1. Electoral Calendar Maximiliano Herrera
  2. Morocco nationalists in poll win BBC News, 9 September 2007
  3. "Morocco votes in parliamentary poll". AlJazeera.net. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  4. Morocco's electoral constituencies increased to 95 People's Daily, 24 August 2007
  5. Morocco poll - choice or façade? BBC News, 1 September 2007
  6. Morocco conservatives win most assembly seats Archived 2008-02-07 at the Wayback Machine, Reuters South Africa, September 9, 2007.
  7. Moroccan elections bring victory for conservatives, Magharebia, 2007-09-10, accessed on 2007-09-12
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