2016 Moroccan general election
General elections were held in Morocco on 7 October 2016.[1] The ruling Justice and Development Party remained the largest party, winning 125 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives, a gain of 18 seats compared to the 2011 elections.
![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 395 seats in the House of Representatives 198 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
![]() |
---|
Judiciary |
![]() |
Saadeddine Othmani was appointed as Prime Minister by King Mohammed VI and formed his cabinet on 5 April 2017, including the PJD, the National Rally of Independents (RNI), the Popular Movement (MP), the Constitutional Union (UC), the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS) and the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP).
Background
The elections were announced by the Moroccan government in late January 2016.[2] They were the second elections after the constitutional reforms introduced in 2011 by King Mohammed VI in response to the Arab Spring.[2] Despite the reforms, most executive powers still lie with the king.[3][4]
The 2011 elections were won by the Justice and Development Party (PJD), which has led the government since then. The party is described as "moderate Islamist", but its government coalition included parties with differing ideologies.[5]
The incumbent Prime Minister going into the 2016 elections was Abdelilah Benkirane.[2] The largest opposition party was the pro-monarchy Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM).[6][7] PJD and PAM ran an "unusually hostile" campaign.[3] The largest Islamist opposition group, Justice and Spirituality, as well as several left-wing organizations boycotted the election, protesting the monarchy's still considerable executive powers.[4][3]
Electoral system
The 395 seats in the House of Representatives are elected by proportional representation in two tiers: 305 seats are elected from 92 multi-member constituencies, with the electoral threshold set at 6%, and the remaining 90 seats are elected from a single nationwide constituency with the electoral threshold set at 3%. The nationwide seats are reserved, with 60 for women and 30 for people under the age of 40.[8]
Under the electoral system no party can win a majority in the parliament, and parties must form a coalition government.[4]
Results
The vote had 43% turnout.[3][9] The Justice and Development Party won the most votes and 125 out of the 395 seats. The Authenticity and Modernity Party won 102 seats, and the rest of the seats were split among smaller parties.
![]() | |||||||||||||||||||
Party | Constituency | Nationwide | Total seats |
+/– | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | ||||||||||||||
Women | Youth | ||||||||||||||||||
Justice and Development Party | 1,571,659 | 27.14 | 98 | 1,618,963 | 27.88 | 18 | 9 | 125 | +18 | ||||||||||
Authenticity and Modernity Party | 1,205,444 | 20.82 | 81 | 1,216,552 | 20.95 | 14 | 7 | 102 | +55 | ||||||||||
Istiqlal Party | 621,280 | 10.73 | 35 | 620,041 | 10.68 | 7 | 4 | 46 | –14 | ||||||||||
National Rally of Independents | 558,875 | 9.65 | 28 | 544,118 | 9.37 | 6 | 3 | 37 | –15 | ||||||||||
Popular Movement | 409,085 | 7.06 | 20 | 397,085 | 6.84 | 5 | 2 | 27 | –5 | ||||||||||
Socialist Union of Popular Forces | 367,622 | 6.35 | 14 | 359,600 | 6.19 | 4 | 2 | 20 | –19 | ||||||||||
Party of Progress and Socialism | 279,226 | 4.82 | 7 | 273,800 | 4.72 | 3 | 2 | 12 | –6 | ||||||||||
Constitutional Union | 268,813 | 4.64 | 15 | 263,720 | 4.54 | 3 | 1 | 19 | –4 | ||||||||||
Federation of the Democratic Left | 139,793 | 2.41 | 2 | 164,575 | 2.83 | 0 | 0 | 2 | New | ||||||||||
Democratic and Social Movement | 74,472 | 1.29 | 3 | 77,630 | 1.34 | 0 | 0 | 3 | +1 | ||||||||||
Covenant and Restoration Alliance | 49,040 | 0.85 | 0 | 51,906 | 0.89 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||||||||
Front of Democratic Forces | 51,945 | 0.90 | 0 | 49,360 | 0.85 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | ||||||||||
Environment and Sustainable Development Party | 35,645 | 0.62 | 0 | 35,167 | 0.61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –2 | ||||||||||
Unity and Democracy Party | 20,240 | 0.35 | 1 | 23,574 | 0.41 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||
New Democratic Party | 17,003 | 0.29 | 0 | 19,284 | 0.33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||||||||
Party of Renaissance and Virtue | 15,522 | 0.27 | 0 | 14,955 | 0.26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
Party of Liberty and Social Justice | 10,811 | 0.19 | 0 | 14,735 | 0.25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | ||||||||||
Democratic Independence Party | 13,097 | 0.23 | 0 | 13,418 | 0.23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
Renaissance Party | 11,194 | 0.19 | 0 | 12,710 | 0.22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||||||||
Party of Hope | 7,747 | 0.13 | 0 | 9,117 | 0.16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
Labour Party | 2,910 | 0.05 | 0 | 7,228 | 0.12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –4 | ||||||||||
Social Centre Party | 6,156 | 0.11 | 0 | 6,977 | 0.12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
Moroccan Union for Democracy | 5,266 | 0.09 | 0 | 6,379 | 0.11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
Democratic Society Party | 3,046 | 0.05 | 0 | 5,110 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
Reform and Development Party | 16,501 | 0.28 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
Green Left Party | 13,389 | 0.23 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||
National Democratic Party | 5,115 | 0.09 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
Independents | 9,656 | 0.17 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
Invalid/blank votes | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||||||||||
Total | 5,790,552 | 100 | 305 | 5,806,004 | 100 | 60 | 30 | 395 | 0 | ||||||||||
Registered voters/turnout | 15,702,592 | – | 15,702,592 | – | – | – | – | ||||||||||||
Source: CEC (Votes) Le Matin (Total seats, Women's seats) |
Reactions
Morocco's election observer body said that the voting was largely free and fair. It reported some cases of vote-buying, but said that they were rare and sporadic. It also expressed concern about the relatively low (43%) turnout.[3] Critics also alleged that the royal establishment used its influence to favour the pro-monarchy PAM.[4]
Aftermath
Following the elections, Khalid Adnoun, a spokesman for the second-placed Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) ruled out joining a coalition government, forcing the PJD to partner with multiple smaller parties in order to secure a majority.[4] On 10 October, Abdelillah Benkirane was reappointed Prime Minister by King Mohammed VI in accordance with the 2011 constitutional reforms which required the king to appoint a prime minister from the party receiving the most votes.[10] However, plans to form a second coalition government led to a political deadlock due to Benkirane objecting to proposals by Aziz Akhannouch, then-cabinet minister and newly-elected leader of the National Rally of Independents (RNI), and Mohand Laenser of the Popular Movement (MP), calling for the Constitutional Union (UC) and the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) to be included in the coalition.[11][12]
On 17 March 2017, Saadeddine Othmani was appointed as Prime Minister by King Mohammed VI.[13] On 25 March 2017 Othmani announced that he would be forming a coalition consisting of the PJD, RNI, MP, UC, USFP, and the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS).[14] The members of the cabinet were announced by the King on 5 April, with some key portfolios going to technocrats.[15]
References
- Morocco The World Factbook
- Morocco to hold parliamentary elections on Oct. 7 -government Reuters, 28 January 2016
- Observers: Moroccan election overall fair, but turnout low Archived 2017-03-01 at the Wayback Machine Associated Press, 9 October 2016
- Moderate Moroccan Islamists win election, coalition talks seen tough Reuters, 8 October 2016
- Moroccan Islamist Party Wins New Mandate in Elections Wall Street Journal, 8 October 2016
- The report: Morocco 2009, Oxford Business Group, p19
- Michael J. Willis (2012) Politics and Power in the Maghreb: Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco from Independence to the Arab Spring, C. Hurst & Co, pp149–150
- Electoral system Inter-Parliamentary Union
- Parliamentary Elections 2016 Maroc.ma, 7 October 2016
- Moroccan king reappoints Abdelilah Bekirane as PM Al Jazeera, 10 October 2016
- "Nouveau blocage pour la formation du gouvernement marocain". Le Monde (in French). 9 January 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- "Un mois et demi après les élections, le Maroc toujours sans gouvernement". Middle East Eye (in French). 20 November 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- King of Morocco names Saad Eddine El Othmani as new prime minister
- Saad Eddine Othmani Announces end of Deadlock, Formation of Government Morocco World News, 25 March 2017
- Maroc : le roi nomme un gouvernement de technocrates qui marginalise les islamistes Le Monde, 5 April 2017