1963 Moroccan general election

Parliamentary elections were held for the first time in Morocco on 17 May 1963. They followed the approval of a constitution in a referendum the previous year. The result was a victory for the pro-Monarchy Front for the Defence of Constitutional Institutions (FDIC), which won 69 seats. However, the two main opposition parties, the Istiqlal Party and the National Union of Popular Forces, won exactly the same number of seats.[1] Voter turnout was 71.8%.[2] However, in November the Supreme Court annulled the results of several seats won by the opposition. By-elections held in January 1964 gave the FDIC control of Parliament,[3] which was eventually dissolved by King Hassan II in 1965.

1963 Moroccan general election
Morocco
17 May 1963

144 seats in the House of Representatives
120 seats in the House of Councillors
PartyLeader % Seats
House of Representatives
FDIC Ahmed Bahnini 34.8 69
Istiqlal Allal al-Fassi 30.0 41
UNFP Mehdi Ben Barka 22.5 28
Independent 12.6 6
House of Councillors
FDIC Ahmed Bahnini 102
Istiqlal Allal al-Fassi 9
UGTM 3
Other parties 2
Independent 4
Prime Minister after
Ahmed Bahnini
FDIC

Indirect elections to the House of Councillors were held on 12 October, with the FDIC winning 102 of the 120 seats.[4]

Electoral system

The 120 members of the House of Councillors were elected by three electoral colleges; members of provincial and prefectural assemblies elected 80 members, professional bodies elected 35 members (of which industrial workers elected 14, farmers elected 16 and craftsmen elected 5) and business councils elected five.[4]

Results

House of Representatives

PartyVotes%Seats
Front for the Defence of Constitutional Institutions1,159,93234.7869
Istiqlal Party1,000,50630.0041
National Union of Popular Forces751,05622.5228
Moroccan Communist Party2,3450.070
Independents421,47912.646
Total3,335,318100.00144
Valid votes3,335,31896.72
Invalid/blank votes113,2213.28
Total votes3,448,539100.00
Registered voters/turnout4,803,65471.79
Source: Nohlen et al.

House of Councillors

Party Assembly members Industrial workers Farmers Craftspeople Business councils Total
seats
Votes%Seats Votes%Seats Votes%Seats Votes%Seats Votes%Seats
Front for the Defence of Constitutional Institutions7491630102
Istiqlal Party340209
General Union of Moroccan Workers000033
Others000022
Independents310004
Total80141655120
Valid votes9,52596.2023992.2820687.2918490.201,34586.55
Invalid/blank votes3763.80207.723012.71209.8020913.45
Total9,9011002591002361002041001,554100
Registered voters/turnout11,61085.2828192.1731275.6422590.673,18848.75
Source: Sternberger et al.

References

  1. Maghraoui, AM Democratization in the Arab World?: Depoliticization in Morocco Journal of Democracy, Volume 13, Number 4 October 2002
  2. Dieter Nohlen, Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p634 ISBN 0-19-829645-2
  3. Ketterer, JP From one chamber to two: The case of Morocco Archived 2017-08-12 at the Wayback Machine Journal of Legislative Studies, Spring 2001, vol. 7, no. 1, pp.135-150
  4. Dolf Sternberger, Bernhard Vogel, Dieter Nohlen & Klaus Landfried (1978) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band II: Afrika, Zweiter Halbband, p1315
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