(3 minutes read)
· Morocco’s long-ruling Islamists have suffered a defeat in parliamentary elections to liberal parties seen as close to the palace
· This is revealed from the provisional results announced yesterday (Thursday)
· The Justice and Development Party (PJD), which headed the ruling coalition for a decade, saw its support base collapse from 125 seats in the outgoing assembly to just 12.
· It was far behind its main liberal rivals, the National Rally of Independents (RNI) and the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), with 97 and 82, respectively. The centre-right Istiqlal Party has 78 seats in the 395-seat assembly.
Morocco’s long-ruling Islamists have suffered a defeat in parliamentary elections to liberal parties seen as close to the palace. This is revealed from the provisional results announced yesterday (Thursday). The Justice and Development Party (PJD), which headed the ruling coalition for a decade, saw its support base collapse from 125 seats in the outgoing assembly to just 12.
It was far behind its main liberal rivals, the National Rally of Independents (RNI) and the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), with 97 and 82, respectively. The centre-right Istiqlal Party has 78 seats in the 395-seat assembly. The RNI, which was a junior member of the governing coalition, is headed by billionaire businessman Aziz Akhannouch, described as close to the palace.
And the main opposition PAM was founded by the current royal adviser, Fouad Ali El Himma, in 2008. The Istiqlal (Independence) party, the oldest in Morocco, made a remarkable comeback, adding 32 seats. This is an upset defeat for the ruling party. Many believed that they may roam back with a reduced margin. The PJD had hoped to secure a third term leading a ruling coalition.
King Mohammed VI will name a prime minister from the party that won the poll to govern the nation of 36 million for the next five years, There was a turnout of 50.35 percent, higher than the 43 percent at the previous legislative polls in 2016. However, it was lower than the 53 percent during the 2015 local elections. The election campaigns were largely lackluster with no big gatherings due to the coronavirus. There are allegations of vote buying coming from certain quarters.
