Parliamentary election in Morocco 2002

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The regular parliamentary elections in Morocco in 2002 took place on September 27, 2002.

The election was made according to the rules of a briefly before the elections in the fast-track process and at the urging of King Mohammed VI. adopted new electoral law, which had the goal of guaranteeing the first parliamentary elections that would not be subject to manipulation and falsification. International observers conclude that the election was well organized and carried out according to international standards. Only the announcement of the election results, postponed by 24 hours (reason: technical difficulties in the counting) caused irritation.

Since all parliamentary elections in the country so far took place after constitutional changes, which each time redefined the conditions of parliamentarism , this election - together with the new electoral law - was seen as an important first step on the path to political and social stability and consensus. The Socialist Union of People's Forces (USFP) party narrowly emerged from the election, which had already won the last parliamentary election in 1997 . Nevertheless, the king - covered by the constitution - entrusted the technocrat Driss Jettou with the formation of a government, and not the party leader of the election winner.

prehistory

The elected parliament only has consultative power. When appointing a prime minister, the king is not bound by a majority in parliament. Shortly before the election, after difficult negotiations between the government, parliament, the parties and after the intervention of the Constitutional Court, a new electoral law was passed. In the period before the elections, the Moroccan media reported extensively on the activities of radical Islamists as well as raids and trials against radical preachers. One can assume that the previous government of Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi deliberately staged the specter of burgeoning radical Islamism in order to mitigate an impending massive election failure. Several political parties that were founded shortly before the election took part in the election. Together with the unsuccessful attempt to introduce a nationwide 5% hurdle, an increasing fragmentation of the representation in parliament was to be expected.

The vote

In the parliamentary elections planned every 5 years according to the constitution, the direct election of the representative assembly in the bicameral parliament of Morocco, a total of 325 parliamentary seats are allocated, of which 295 via party lists and for the first time 30 seats via a so-called "national list", which is "predominantly" for Reserved for women, a process that is unique in Arab countries. Since the Constitutional Court had raised concerns, this list is nominally open to both sexes, but the parties are encouraged to voluntarily nominate only women. This voluntary commitment largely worked, and with the election a total of 35 women moved into parliament as members of the parliament, instead of 2 women before. 26 parties stand for election, supplemented by various politicians without a party, a total of over 5000 candidates. All party lists and candidates choose an “election symbol” so that illiterate people can also vote. With an estimated total population of 30 million, 13,884,467 citizens are officially registered on electoral rolls as eligible to vote. A total of 7,165,206 votes were cast, which corresponds to a turnout of 51.6% (7% less than in the previous election), of which 1,228,836 were invalid votes (approx. 17%), leaving just under 43% valid votes.

Election result

The USFP became the strongest party, as before , when it was only able to defend its majority against its coalition partner Istiqlal , which in turn gained significantly more votes. The supporters of the USFP had apparently expected more from the reforms of the "Government of Change" of 1997 and reacted disappointed.

The People's Movement (MP), the Constitutional Union (UC) and the Democratic and Social Movement (MDS) also suffered significant losses in votes .

The main winner of the election was the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), which had participated in a parliamentary election for the first time and won 42 seats from the start, even though it did not run for elections across the board.

The winners also included 9 newly founded parties that made it into parliament. The election ended without any major surprises. Still, it resulted in three important changes:

  • A shift in the voting structure towards conservative and religious parties.
  • The desired but significant success of female candidates.
  • Another decrease in voter turnout (minus 7%).
Political party Expression Leading head Results
1997
Results
2002
Socialist Union of People's Forces
(USFP)
Social democracy Abderrahmane Youssoufi ?,? % of the vote
57 seats
9.6% of the vote
50 seats
Istiqlal or "Party of Independence"
(PI)
Conservatism , nationalism Abbas al-Fassi
9.8% of the vote
32 seats
7.8% of the vote
48 seats
Justice and Development Party
(PJD)
Conservatism , Islamism ,
economic liberalism
Abdelkrim al-Khatib 0.0% of the vote
0 seats
7.4% of the vote
42 seats
National Association of Independents
(RNI)
Liberalism , center-right Ahmed Osman ?,? % of the vote
46 seats
7.2% of the vote
41 seats
Popular Movement
(MP)
Royalism ,
representation of rural areas
Mohand Laenser 12.3% of the vote
40 seats
5.0% of the vote
27 seats
National People's Movement (MNP) Conservative Mahjoubi Aherdane ?,? % of the vote
19 seats
4.2% of the vote
18 seats
Constitutional Union
(UC)
Royalism, conservatism ,
economic liberalism
Mohammed Abied ?,? % of the vote
50 seats
?,? % of the vote
16 seats
National Democratic Party (PND) liberalism Abdalah Kadiri ?,? % of the vote
10 seats
?,? % of the vote
12 seats
Front of the Democratic Forces
(FFD)
socialism Thami El Khyari ?,? % of the vote
9 seats
3.6% of the vote
12 seats
Party of Progress and Socialism
(PPS)
socialism Ismael Alaoui ?,? % of the vote
9 seats
3.4% of the vote
11 seats
Democratic Union (UD) liberalism Bouâzza Ikken 0.0% of the vote
0 seats
?,? % of the vote
10 seats
Democratic and Social Movement
(MDS)
Conservatism Mahmoud Archane ?,? % of the vote
32 seats
?,? % of the vote
7 seats

The remaining 31 seats are distributed among 10 other parties (including 8 newly founded parties).

Government formation

After the USFP won the election, King Mohammed VI. not the election winner, but the former interior minister and non-party technocrat Driss Jettou with the formation of the government, who has long enjoyed the trust of the royal family. This decision is referred to by the USFP as “non-recognition of the democratic methodology”, but it still takes part in the government coalition formed by Jettou, which includes the USFP, the Istiqlal, the MP, the RNI, the PPS and independent members of the government, and which will officially start work on November 7, 2002.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Konrad Adenauer Foundation “Morocco in Transition - Taking Stock of the Situation after the Elections” from November 2, 2002
  2. ^ WG Peace Research “Razzien Effective to the Public” , originally from WoZ-Online from September 26, 2017
  3. a b psephos.adam-carr.net: Results 2002
  4. ^ Interparliamentary Union - Morocco election results 2002
  5. ^ Interparliamentary Union - Morocco 1997 election results
  6. Maroc.ma: List of the Governments of Morocco