Moroccans were choosing a new parliament yesterday in Arab Spring-inspired elections that are facing 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 would be how many voters cast ballots.
The result is being watched by Morocco’s US and other Western allies, as well as European tourists, who cherish its beaches and resorts.
Photo: Reuters
Morocco’s reputation as a stable democracy in North Africa has taken a hit with 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 Arab world turmoil.
The election campaign has been strangely subdued, unlike the lively politicking in nearby Tunisia when it held its first elections prompted by the Arab uprisings last month.
In Morocco, 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 did not plan to vote.
Like elsewhere in the Arab world, Moroccans hit the streets in the first half of this year 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.
US-based Human Rights Watch said that since Oct. 20 the government has taken more than 100 activists in for questioning for advocating a boycott.
“Moroccans feel that aside from the constitutional reform, nothing has really changed, meaning that the elections of 2011 will be a copy of the elections of 2007 and that is what will probably keep the participation low,” Islamist Justice and Development Party deputy secretary-general Abdellah Baha said.
The 2007 elections, the first with widespread international observation, had just a 37 percent turnout and some fear it could be even lower this time around.
The constitutional referendum passed with more than 98 percent voting in favor and a staggering 72 percent turnout, which most observers found hardly credible.
Morocco, with its many political parties and regular elections, was once the bright star in a region of dictatorships, but all that has changed with the Arab uprisings that toppled dictators in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. Now a political system that holds elections, but leaves all powers in the hands of a hereditary king, does not look so liberal.
Under the new constitution, the largest party must form the government, which could well be the Islamist party, known by its French initials PJD, but there is uncertainty over whether it can truly change anything.
The Islamists’ biggest rival for the top spot is Moroccan Finance Minister Salaheddine Mezouar’s Rally of Independents, which leads an alliance of seven other pro--palace parties.
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