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Morocco to hold parliamentary, local elections on Wednesday

07 September 2021 23:16 (UTC +04:00)

Morocco will hold on Wednesday parliamentary and local elections. Some 17.5 million Moroccan are eligible to cast their votes, according to the Ministry of Interior, APA reports citing Xinhua.

The vote will be for 395 deputies in the House of Representatives or the lower house, and more than 31,000 local and regional representatives.

As many as 4,500 Moroccan observers and 100 international bodies will monitor the elections.

Islamist Justice and Development Party, which won the last two elections to head the Moroccan government for the last ten years, will be challenged by its two allies in the government, the National Rally of Independents and the Independence Party, in addition to the main opposition party Authenticity and Modernity.

The election of the provincial councils will be held on Sept. 21, and the election of the House of Councillors, the upper house of the parliament, is scheduled for Oct. 5.

These elections will be the third since a new constitution was adopted on July 1, 2011 amid the Arab Spring upheaval.

In this constitution, the king ceded part of his power to the government and parliament to appease anti-government protests.