Morocco's two largest political parties cemented their standing in local elections, while a closely watched Islamic party made modest gains in the first vote since May suicide bombings by Muslim extremists.
The Socialist Union of Popular Forces and the conservative Istiqlal were the biggest winners in final results announced on Saturday. Both parties are members of the coalition government, and together, they won nearly a third of the vote.
Moroccans voted Friday on 23,689 seats for local councilors across the North African kingdom. The ballot was seen as a test of the strength of a moderate Islamic party, Justice and Development, that has gained ground quickly since its founding in 1997.
The group placed 11th out of a dizzying 27 parties in the running, according to Interior Minister Mustapha Sahel, who announced the figures. However, the showing was not seen as a true measure of its popularity.
Concerned about a growing fundamentalist presence, Morocco's government had put pressure on the party to lower its profile in the election. The party agreed and presented only 4,268 candidates -- less than 4 percent of the 122,658 candidates running.
The interior minister announced turnout of just over 54 percent, higher than expected. The rate was closely watched as a sign of whether Moroccans took seriously their government's pledge of a free and fair election.
With 3,980 seats, the conservative Istiqlal won nearly 17 percent of the vote, and should control Casablanca, Morocco's largest city and economic hub. The Socialist union took 3.373 seats, or nearly 15 percent, and is likely to hold the capital, Rabat.
The Islamic Justice and Development party, which was not present in the last local elections in 1997, made modest though significant gains. It will hold 593 council seats, or about 2.5 percent.
Justice and Development, which draws its support in impoverished urban suburbs and among university students, has rallied against the French-speaking elite, denounced rampant corruption and called for a strengthening of Arab-Muslim identity.
The party surprised Morocco last September, tripling its seats in legislative elections and taking 43 seats in the 325-seat assembly.
Moroccan authorities and the pro-government press have accused the party of "moral responsibility" in May 16 attacks in Casablanca that killed 33 bystanders and 12 suicide bombers.
The attacks shook this Muslim kingdom that had been spared violence despite an 11-year-old bloody Islamic insurgency in neighboring Algeria. Authorities say an international network was behind the bombings that mainly targeted Jewish and Spanish sites.
The government's investigation into the attacks showed that Moroccans from shantytowns carried out the five nearly simultaneous suicide bombings and have yet to show solid evidence of an international link.
Starting with last year's legislative election, Morocco began promising its citizens a free and fair vote. Those elections were an important step in a process of liberalization launched by King Mohammed VI after the 1999 death of his father, Hassan II.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
‘HYANGDO’: A South Korean lawmaker said there was no credible evidence to support rumors that Kim Jong-un has a son with a disability or who is studying abroad South Korea’s spy agency yesterday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who last week accompanied him on a high-profile visit to Beijing, is understood to be his recognized successor. The teenager drew global attention when she made her first official overseas trip with her father, as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts have long seen her as Kim’s likely successor, although some have suggested she has an older brother who is being secretly groomed as the next leader. The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) “assesses that she [Kim Ju-ae]
In the week before his fatal shooting, right-wing US political activist Charlie Kirk cheered the boom of conservative young men in South Korea and warned about a “globalist menace” in Tokyo on his first speaking tour of Asia. Kirk, 31, who helped amplify US President Donald Trump’s agenda to young voters with often inflammatory rhetoric focused on issues such as gender and immigration, was shot in the neck on Wednesday at a speaking event at a Utah university. In Seoul on Friday last week, he spoke about how he “brought Trump to victory,” while addressing Build Up Korea 2025, a conservative conference
China has approved the creation of a national nature reserve at the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), claimed by Taiwan and the Philippines, the government said yesterday, as Beijing moves to reinforce its territorial claims in the contested region. A notice posted online by the Chinese State Council said that details about the area and size of the project would be released separately by the Chinese National Forestry and Grassland Administration. “The building of the Huangyan Island National Nature Reserve is an important guarantee for maintaining the diversity, stability and sustainability of the natural ecosystem of Huangyan Island,” the notice said. Scarborough
RSS