RABAT— Moroccans were voting Wednesday in parliamentary and local
elections, as the incumbent Islamists who have governed the kingdom since the
Arab Spring uprisings raised allegations of "serious irregularities."
اضافة اعلان
"We're very concerned as we watch the progress of the national
election. We've seen several irregularities," the Justice and Development
Party (PJD) said in a late afternoon statement.
The party said there were "obscene cash handouts" near polling
stations and "confusion" on some electoral rolls, with some voters
finding they were not listed.
It called for "swift and severe" intervention from the authorities
"to avoid tarnishing the transparency of the elections."
Allegations of vote-buying had already flown in the final days of the
two-week election campaign, which unfolded with no major rallies because of the
coronavirus pandemic.
The interior ministry had earlier said that voting was proceeding "as
normal" and would continue until the set cut-off time of 7pm (1800 GMT).
Push for turnout
Around 36 percent of the 18 million entitled to vote nationwide had cast
their ballots by 5pm, the interior ministry said, with 395 MPs' seats and more
than 31,000 local and regional government jobs at stake.
"Everyone to the ballot boxes!" urged local daily newspaper the
Economist, noting that turnout represented the "real stakes in today's
polls" after only 43 percent of eligible voters cast ballots five years
ago.
"Today is an important day for
Morocco. I am voting because it is my
duty," voter Abdallah Jawad Slaoui said in a polling station in the
economic capital Casablanca.
The election comes as the tourism-dependent economy makes a patchy recovery
from a pandemic-induced 7 percent contraction last year, and enthusiasm is
limited in a country where the monarchy retains key decision-making power.
King Mohammed VI will name a prime minister from the party that leads the
parliamentary poll to govern the nation of 36 million for the next five years.
'Above suspicion'
Swept to power in the wake of the 2011 uprisings around the Middle East and
North Africa, the PJD hopes to secure a third term leading a ruling coalition.
Compared with demands back then for an end to "corruption and
despotism," this year's two-week election campaign was less lively.
In the final days, however, PJD and its close rival the National Rally of
Independents (RNI) exchanged heftier blows.
Former prime minister and PJD leader Abdelilah Benkirane attacked the RNI
boss, billionaire businessman and Agriculture Minister Aziz Akhannouch, in a
fiery Facebook video on Sunday.
"The head of government must be a political personality with integrity
who is above suspicion," he said.
Akhannouch, who is said to be close to the royal palace, retorted in an
interview on Monday that the attacks were "an admission of failure"
by his opponents, vowing not to respond.
Following the last elections in 2016, the RNI leader secured critical
ministerial jobs for his party, including the economy and finance and industry
portfolios.
Besides the PJD and RNI, the liberal Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM),
formed by an influential royal adviser, and the center-right Istiqlal Party are
both seen as front-runners in local media.
PAM claimed in the final days before the ballot that RNI was buying votes —
denied by Akhannouch's party.
The tepid campaign has frustrated some voters and expectations for turnout
were low.
Whatever the result, political parties are expected to adopt a charter for a
"new model of development" with a "new generation of reforms and
projects" in the coming years, the king announced recently.
All parties are expected to sign up, regardless of who wins the election.
The plan's major aims include reducing the country's wealth gap and doubling
per-capita economic output by 2035.
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