38.02% Turnout in Morocco’s Parliamentary Elections

Al-Taj News – Morocco’s Interior Ministry announced late Wednesday-Thursday that voting in the election of members of the House of Representatives concluded at 7 p.m. local time, recording a national turnout of 38.02%.

The ministry said in a statement carried by Moroccan media that the voting took place under normal conditions, except for limited cases.

It added that the counting and tallying of votes began immediately after polling stations closed, in the presence of representatives of the candidate lists.

Moroccans voted Wednesday to choose a new parliament that will produce a government for five years, as more than 7,000 candidates competed for the votes of around 16 million voters, out of approximately 36 million Moroccans, to elect 395 lawmakers. The turnout rate, particularly among young people, is considered one of the key indicators of these elections.

A few voters arrived at a polling station in the center of the capital shortly after it opened.

The Moroccan monarch, King Mohammed VI, will appoint a prime minister from the winning party, who will be tasked with forming a government.

The Constitution adopted in 2011 grants broad powers to parliament and the government, although strategic decisions remain in the hands of the Moroccan monarch, who also provides guidance on most public policies.

Purchasing power, social inequalities, and youth unemployment dominated the election campaign.