Morocco

Articles about voting issues in the Kingdom of Morocco.

Elections challenged by voter mistrust | Yahoo! News

Nov 282011

It should be a moment of excitement: Moroccans are choosing a parliament in elections Friday prompted by the Arab Spring’s clamor for freedom. Yet there are few signs here that elections are even taking place. Posters and raucous rallies for candidates are absent in the cities and instead there are just stark official banners urging citizens to “do their national duty” and “participate in the change the country is undergoing.”

“The parties have presented the same people for the past 30 years, the least they could do is change their candidates,” said Hassan Rafiq, a vegetable vendor in the capital Rabat, who said he didn’t plan to vote. Like elsewhere in the Arab world, Moroccans hit the streets in the first half of 2011 calling for more democracy, and King Mohammed VI responded by amending the constitution and bringing forward elections. But since then the sense of change has dissipated. Read More »

First parliamentary elections since protests | CNN

Nov 282011

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Moroccans went to the polls Friday in the country’s first parliamentary elections since adopting a new constitution following mass protests over unemployment and corruption. Turnout in the North African country was 45%, the Interior Ministry said. Both Parliament and the prime minister have greater powers under the new constitution, while the monarch’s sway has been slightly lessened.

More than 300 international observers monitored the voting, alongside 3,500 Moroccan observers, the semiofficial Le Matin newspaper reported. Morocco’s moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) is expected to do well in the vote. Read More »

Morocco votes in test of king's reform promises | France 24

Nov 282011

Moroccans voted in a parliamentary election on Friday that could yield their most representative government ever, after King Mohammed ceded some powers to prevent any tumultuous spillover of Arab Spring uprisings.

The election will be a litmus test of the ability of Arab monarchies to craft reforms that would placate popular yearning for greater democracy without violence-ridden revolts of the sort seen in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Syria this year. Read More »

Election faces low turnout despite new constitution | guardian.co.uk

Nov 252011

Moroccans go to the polls in an Arab Spring-inspired election that faces a boycott by democracy campaigners who say the ruling monarchy is not committed to real change. A moderate Islamist party and a pro-palace coalition are expected to do well in the voting, but a key test for the authorities’ legitimacy will be how many voters cast ballots. The result will be watched by Morocco’s US and other western allies, as well as European tourists who visit its beaches and resorts.

Morocco’s reputation as a stable democracy in North Africa has been damaged by this year’s protests. And its once-steady economy is creaking from the amount of money the government has pumped into raising salaries and subsidies to keep people calm amid the turmoil in the region. Read More »

Morocco Votes in First Ballot Since Reform of Parliament | NYTimes

Nov 252011

Under pressure from the Arab Spring uprisings, King Mohammed VI of Morocco proposed a new constitution last summer providing for a more empowered Parliament. On Friday, voters went to the polls to determine its makeup.

The new constitution reserves critical powers for the throne, which retains absolute authority over military and religious matters. But while still appointed by the king, the prime minister must be chosen from the party with the most seats in Parliament. Read More »

Elections challenged by voter mistrust | San Francisco Chronicle

Nov 242011

Like elsewhere in the Arab world, Moroccans hit the streets in the first half of 2011 calling for more democracy, and King Mohammed VI responded by amending the constitution and bringing forward elections. But since then the sense of change has dissipated. Read More »

Thousands of Moroccans make final boycott call 5 days before elections | The Washington Post

Nov 212011

Thousands of Moroccans from the pro-democracy movement made a final call Sunday to boycott upcoming elections with protests across the country. At least 3,000 people marched through the capital Rabat and another 4,000 chanted demonstrated in Casablanca, the country’s largest city. Demonstrations took place in other cities across the country as well.

Anti-government protesters hold Moroccan national flag, left, and the 20th February movement flag in red black and white during a rally organized by the 20th February, the Moroccan Arab Spring movement in Casablanca, Morocco, Sunday, Nov 20, 2011, in a mass popular call to bring more democracy into this North African kingdom. Some thousands of Moroccans from the pro-democracy movement braved pouring rain and high winds in Casablanca to make a final call to boycott upcoming elections. Read More »

Activists call for election boycott | HeraldOnline

Nov 152011

Thousands of pro-democracy activists demonstrated in Morocco’s largest city calling for a boycott of parliamentary elections less than two weeks away. The demonstrations comes as a parliamentary delegation from the Council of Europe noted there was little enthusiasm in the country just two weeks before the election and said there was worry about the level of participation.

“I’m boycotting, how about you?” said stickers carried by many of the activists as they marched through a working class district in Casablanca. Morocco’s parliamentary elections will be held early as part of a government-initiated reform process in the North African kingdom, which is a close U.S. ally. Read More »

Morocco's New Constitution and Upcoming General Elections | moroccoboard.com

Nov 112011

It was under the watch of the government of Abbas Fassi that a New or a completely revamped constitution emerged out of the blue precipitated by the ‘Arab Spring’ and considered revolutionary by some and more of the same by others. It was put to a referendum on 1 July 2011 and was accepted by 98% of the 74% of the people who made it to the ballot box. This kind of results might seem bizarre to us in West, but Arabs and Muslims always claim their singularity and uniqueness from the outside world as they fail to see the other.

However, this apart, the most important innovative change made is that of the role of the Prime Minister, who becomes the President of Government and is given to the party with majority votes at elections, a great improvement of the previous ones, bringing this nomination in line to what is generally recognized as one of the principles of democracy. In other words, now the king can no longer choose any prime minster as it used to be the case, but must respect the will of the people through elections and name the new president of the government from the party that received the most votes. Read More »

Islamists await their turn ahead of elections | The Daily Star

Nov 042011

With Islamist on the doorstep to power in Tunisia, it is now Morocco’s turn to go to the polls in elections that despite the low turnout expected, will likely bring religion closer to government. But unlike votes in Tunisia and Egypt, which served as climatic final acts in revolutions that surprised the world, the November 25 polling day in Morocco is likely to be a subdued affair.

Last summer, spurred into action as autocrats fell across the Arab world, the king of Morocco Mohammed VI hastily called a referendum asking Moroccans to decide on a new political system that would see the monarch ceding prerogatives. In the July vote, more than 98 percent of Moroccans approved the political reforms and a call for early legislative elections quickly followed. Read More »

Moroccans protest polls, violence in the capital | Top News | Reuters

Oct 242011

The face of a Salafist protester is stained with blood as police disperse a demonstration calling for democracy and freedom for imprisoned family members, in Rabat

Thousands of Moroccans demonstrated in cities across the country on Sunday, calling for a boycott of early parliamentary polls next month whose outcome will be key to the future of reforms crafted by the royal palace. The protests are the latest in a series of regular peaceful demonstrations by the youth-led opposition February 20 Movement, inspired by uprisings that ousted leaders in Tunisia and Egypt to demand a parliamentary monarchy and punishment for officials accused of graft.

In the capital Rabat, a Reuters reporter saw dozens of riot police with truncheons beating and kicking protesters who had gathered in front of the parliament building at the end of a march by around 3,000 people. A local elected official in the country’s biggest city, Casablanca, said about 8,000 people took part in a similar protest there. Several thousand took part in protests in other cities including Fes and Tangier. Read More »

Islamist group calls for election boycott | Ahram Online

Oct 152011

Morocco’s popular Islamist Justice and Benevolence movement on Tuesday called for a boycott of 25 November parliamentary polls called by the king in response to pro-democracy protests.

“We call on the Moroccan people to boycott this process based on lies and illusions,” the movement, which is not officially recognised but tolerated by the authorities, said in a statement. ”We also call on Morocco’s political, intellectual and economic elite to follow the February 20 movement, which is the movement of the people.”

The February 20 Movement, which takes its name from its first day of protest, was inspired by pro-democracy groups that have sprung up across the Arab world this year. Tuesday’s announcement is the latest boycott call of the November polls. In September Morocco’s opposition Unified Socialist Party announced that it would boycott the election, joining two far-left parties. Read More »

Journalists undergo training on election coverage

Oct 132011

Training on election coverage – The UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and The New York Times Knowledge Network are collaborating to train Tunisian, Egyptian, Moroccan, US and French journalists on covering elections in their respective countries.

A statement by UNAOC on Tuesday, stated: ‘Ahead of the imminent elections in Tunisia and Egypt, UNAOC is working with The New York Times Knowledge Network, which offers online adult and continuing education opportunities, to provide a six-week online course to Tunisian, Egyptian, Moroccan, French and American journalists and journalism students.’ It said that, ‘each of the aforementioned countries is expected to enter major parliamentary or presidential elections in the next 12 months. Read More »

Moroccan civil society monitors elections online (Magharebia.com)

Oct 062011

From text messages to Facebook and Twitter, new resources are available to Moroccans to exercise their civil rights. To take advantage of the interactivity and ubiquity of information technology, the Moroccan Human Rights Association (OMDH) recently created a website to serve as an online monitoring centre for the kingdom’s November 25th legislative elections.

Launched September 26th in a trial version,Marsad.ma is a platform that enables people to find information on the elections. In addition, it allows citizens and observers to monitor the vote by reporting and learning about incidents, failures or irregularities associated with the election process. The full site is set to go live a month before the poll.

“This year, given the changes occurring across the region and the importance of the internet as a citizenship tool, we decided to explore digital technology and new media,” said Mounir Bensalah, an observer and member of the Marsad team. Read More »

Electoral list quotas draw criticism | Magharebia.com

Sep 172011

The representation of women and youth in Morocco’s next parliament will increase three-fold, the interior ministry and political parties recently agreed. Sixty seats have been reserved for women and thirty for candidates under the age of forty, according to the bill passed by the Council of Ministers on Friday (September 9th).

The list system is such that parties make a list of candidates and voters choose from among those lists as opposed to electing each individual politician to office. Candidates will be elected from party lists, and the election barrier has been lowered to 3% to allow smaller parties to be represented in parliament.

The decision, however, triggered a flurry of negative reactions from activists. Some see it as a violation of the principle of equal opportunity, while others say the bill does not go far enough. Read More »

Partido Popular Opposes Granting vote to Moroccans | Gibraltar Chronicle

Jul 122011

Partido Popular wants to prevent Moroccan migrants resident in Ceuta and Melilla from voting in local elections in 2015. The party said the right to vote could not be granted to the citizens of a country that has a territorial claim over the two Spanish enclaves, both of which are governed by the PP.

Party officials were speaking after Morocco approved a new Constitution on July 1 that allows foreign residents to vote in local elections. Four days later, Spain’s Foreign Minister, Trinidad Jiménez, said Spain would sign agreements to ensure that right was reciprocated. Read More »

Protesters reject Moroccan referendum - allege irregularities in voting procedures | Middle East | world.bdnews24.com

Jul 062011

Protesters from Morocco’s ‘February 20′ movement march against the results of a referendum that backed constitutional changes put forward by King Mohammed. Simon Hanna reports. Moroccan protesters take to the streets to denounce the results of last week’s constitutional referendum.

Preliminary results of the poll showed that 98.5 percent of voters approved the changes proposed by King Mohammed. Read More »

98% Moroccans vote for constitutional reforms | The Times of India

Jul 042011

An overwhelming 98% of Moroccans voted for constitutional reforms transferring more powers to parliament, and setting the country on course for democratization that it has huge aspirations for but little experience in.

The Friday referendum, cast under the hot sun of 41 degrees, logged a 73% turnout of which almost 98% said in the affirmative to the proposals conceived by a committee, appointed by the Palace in the wake of anger in the Arab world that has popularly come to be known as the Arab Spring.

The vote was a fait accompli since the day King Mohammed VI proposed the reforms, and marks a big step towards relieving the burgeoning expectations of a citizenry — especially the youth — that is fast integrating with the world at large. What made the Moroccan celebrations special was the stark contrast it struck with the resurfacing of fierce rebellion on the Arab street on Friday — a resurgence against the Al Assad regime in Syria, and a desperate threat from Muammar Gaddafi to unleash terror in Europe if NATO did not stop its support for Libyan rebels. Read More »

Moroccans Vote on Draft Constitution That Gives More Power to Parliament | Bloomberg

Jul 012011

Moroccans vote in a referendum today on a draft constitution drawn up at the orders of King Mohammed VI, with activists who demand a reduction in the monarch’s powers calling for a boycott of the vote.

Under the proposal, the prime minister would be chosen from the party that wins elections. The king would retain the power to overrule or dissolve the parliament, and his role as “commander of the faithful” in the Islamic country. Polls open at 8 a.m. local time and close at 7 p.m., with 13 million people eligible to vote. It’s not clear when results will be announced. Read More »

Morocco

Elections challenged by voter mistrust | Yahoo! News

First parliamentary elections since protests | CNN

Morocco votes in test of king's reform promises | France 24

Election faces low turnout despite new constitution | guardian.co.uk

Morocco Votes in First Ballot Since Reform of Parliament | NYTimes

Elections challenged by voter mistrust | San Francisco Chronicle

Thousands of Moroccans make final boycott call 5 days before elections | The Washington Post

Activists call for election boycott | HeraldOnline

Morocco's New Constitution and Upcoming General Elections | moroccoboard.com

Islamists await their turn ahead of elections | The Daily Star

Moroccans protest polls, violence in the capital | Top News | Reuters

Islamist group calls for election boycott | Ahram Online

Journalists undergo training on election coverage

Moroccan civil society monitors elections online (Magharebia.com)

Electoral list quotas draw criticism | Magharebia.com

Partido Popular Opposes Granting vote to Moroccans | Gibraltar Chronicle

Protesters reject Moroccan referendum - allege irregularities in voting procedures | Middle East | world.bdnews24.com

98% Moroccans vote for constitutional reforms | The Times of India

Moroccans Vote on Draft Constitution That Gives More Power to Parliament | Bloomberg

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