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Feature: Morocco holds parliamentary elections, voters show low enthusiasm

25 November 2011 18:38 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Without excited crowds lining up outside polling stations, Moroccans casted their votes quietly and orderly on Friday to elect the country’s first parliament since a July 1 constitutional referendum in which the king ceded part of his power to the government, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Morocco opened its parliamentary elections on Friday, which was brought forward from September 2012 due to widespread unrest in the Arab world, with a total of 7,102 candidates from 31 parties competing for 395 seats.

Since 8:00 a.m. local time (0800 GMT), voters started to cast their ballots in 45,000 polling stations in the North African country.

Low enthusiasm was seen among about 13 million registered voters as the number of people who casted ballots Friday morning in polling stations in the capital Rabat was small and most of them are elders.

The official MAP news agency reported that the turnout in elections reached 11.5 percent at 12:00 local time (1200 GMT), citing figures released by the Interior Ministry.

MAP also reminded the voters that the polls would remain open until 7:00 p.m. (1900 GMT), trying to persuade them to come to the polling stations.

Unlike the constituent assembly elections held in Tunisia last month when people queued up for two hours to cast their ballots, polling was quietly organized in Morocco as each of polling stations in Rabat received no more than 400 voters in four hours after it opened.

During the election campaign, posters and rallies for candidates are rarely seen in the capital. However, there are banners made by the government urging voters to "perform their duty" to "participate in the reform process in the country."

"We see the same parties and same faces of candidates in the previous elections. Every time they present similar policies that bring few changes to the country," said Anass Fakhar who refused to vote in the elections.

"I know that their polices would not bring jobs for the youths, " he added.

On the eve of the legislative elections, more than 1,000 college graduates gathered near the parliament in central Rabat, calling for boycotting the elections.

"Look at us, we all have bachelor degrees but don’t have jobs," one of the organizers Charaf el-Haifoug said, adding that "every time the parties promise to solve unemployment in the country but they did not keep their promises at last."

In this North African country, more than 30 percent of youths do not have jobs, bringing the unemployment rate in the country to about 10 percent.

"We have to see the bright side of the elections. The king has launched reforms to improve people’s lives, so we have to do our duty to choose a government that can implement the polices," said Souad, who teaches French, after she casted her vote.

According to the new constitution, the king will appoint the prime minister from the party winning most seats in the parliament.

The most recent parliamentary elections were held in September 2007. The voter turnout was disappointing, with only 37 percent of registered voters casting ballots, reflecting Moroccans’ lack of interest in politics.

The main opposition Islamic Justice and Development Party (PJD), the newly formed Alliance for Democracy, also known as G8, which includes eight parties grouping around the National Rally of Independents close to the royal family, and Ketela Coalition comprising the ruling Istiqlal Party are the three front runners.

The PJD and the Alliance for Democracy are widely expected to gain the polls as the ruling Istiqlal Party were criticized for their performances in the past four years. Local observers said the PJD, who promised to increase the minimum wage by 50 percent, cut poverty in half and speed up economic growth from the 4.5 percent forecast for this year to 7 percent, has a real chance to lead the next government.

Early election results are expected to be announced at Friday midnight.

If the PJD wins, it will be the second Islamic party that grasps power amid widespread political unrest in the Arab world, after Tunisia’s Ennahda party winning 89 seats in a 217-member constituent assembly last month. Meanwhile, in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood is also popular ahead of elections.