Moroccans began voting yesterday in parliamentary elections likely to make a moderate Islamic party the leading political force thanks to voters fed up with a secular government they see as increasingly corrupt.
A bombing on Thursday in neighboring Algeria cast a shadow over the vote and threatened to blunt the expected victory of Morocco's Justice and Development Party (PJD). The party denounces the Islamic extremism that has fueled 15 years of violence against the Algerian government, but critics fear the PJD's moderate face hides hard-line goals.
A PJD victory would mark the first time Islamic-minded politicians have wielded such political power in North Africa.
Ultimate authority, though, rests with King Mohamed VI, who is determined to maintain his country's tolerant and tourist-friendly image and stay friendly with the US.
Polls, which opened at 8am, were to close by 8pm and results were expected today.
No party is expected to emerge with a majority of 325-seat lower house of parliament.
Top contenders were the PJD and the top two movements in the outgoing parliament, the center-left USFP and the conservative-leaning Istiqlal. All three are loyal to the king. Up to a dozen smaller parties were also expected to make it into parliament, where 30 seats are reserved for women.
Based on the election results, the king names a prime minister, who names a new government.
"We must vote for a party that is not afraid to show that Islam and politics are friends," said Abdelkrim Hezraf, a 40-year-old worker for a pharmaceutical company waiting to vote at a polling station in a school in a middle-class neighborhood in Rabat.
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