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Morocco conservatives win vote
08/09/2007 22:21 - (SA)
Rabat - Morocco's conservative Istiqlal
party, a member of the kingdom's ruling coalition, won most
seats in parliamentary elections that opposition Islamists said
were skewed by vote buying.
Provisional results showed Istiqlal (Independence) won 52
seats, ahead of the Islamist Justice and Development party (PJD)
with 47 seats, Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa told reporters
late on Saturday.
The PJD had been widely tipped to perform well and had aimed
to become the biggest party in parliament, but scaled back its
ambitions after polling closed on Friday, accusing its opponents
of foul play.
"Dirty money has been flowing into the voting system. We
have the proof and we will challenge this," PJD deputy leader
Lahcen Daoudi told supporters in Rabat early on Saturday. "It is
not only sad for us. It is sad for Moroccan democracy."
The results also looked bad for the Socialist Union of
Popular Forces (USFP) party, Istiqlal's main coalition partner,
which dropped from first to fifth place in parliament.
It had hoped voters would reward it for its part in the
government's cautious social and economic reforms.
The parliamentary polls were the second since King Mohammed
came to the throne in 1999 and saw 33 parties vie with dozens of
independents for seats in the 325-member lower house.
A complex voting system makes it almost impossible for any
group to win a majority, and whatever the outcome, real power
will remain with the king, who is executive head of state,
military chief and religious leader.
Voters snub polls
The provisional figures showed a record-low turnout of 37%, an apparent snub to a political system whose leaders
are widely seen as aloof and out of touch.
Washington is looking hopefully to the polls for evidence
its campaign for democracy in the Middle East and Africa is
helping undermine support for Islamic extremism.
Morocco has seen less of the kind of unrest that besets
neighbouring Algeria, where a car bomb on Saturday killed 30
people. Algeria's violence broke out in 1992 when
military-backed authorities scrapped parliamentary elections
than an Islamist party was set to win.
Many voters appeared more worried about corruption and
poverty than religion.
The liberal conservative Popular Movement (MP) and the
National Rally of Independents (RNI) won 43 and 38 seats
respectively, while the USFP won 36.
Most of the other seats after Friday's vote were divided
between many smaller parties and dozens of independents
including former deputy interior minister Fouad Ali el Himma,
who stepped down from his job last month to run for parliament.
Benmoussa stressed that the results were provisional and
could change pending final results on Sunday evening.
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