New political party sweeps local elections in Morocco

2009-06-14

A controversial newcomer to Moroccan politics, the Authenticity and Modernity Party won the most seats in Friday's communal elections. Experts believe the results show that voters are regaining faith in politics.

By Hassan Benmehdi for Magharebia in Casablanca – 14/06/09

[Abdelhak Senna/AFP/Getty Images] PAM party candidate Kaoutar Benhamou casts her ballot in Salé on Friday.

The new Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) edged out the Istiqlal Party on Friday (June 12th) to win the greatest number of seats in Morocco's communal elections. The accomplishment may change the political landscape in Morocco.

According to a Saturday announcement by Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa, Fouad Ali El Himma's PAM received roughly 18% of all votes cast and won 6,015 seats (21.7%) of the 27,795 contested.

The big win comes a fortnight after the party switched sides from Morocco's ruling coalition to the political opposition.

Eight of the 30 parties represented in the poll won a combined 84% of the votes and 90% of the seats. These were the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), the Istiqlal Party, the National Rally of Independents (RNI), the Socialist Union of People's Forces (USFP), the Popular Movement (MP), the Justice and Development Party (PJD), the Constitutional Union (UC) and the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS).

Following the major breakthrough, PAM member Abdelkader Belkacem told Magharebia how hard his party had worked for the victory. "I'd like to thank the people who voted for us," he said. "I think they voted for change and better management of local affairs in the future."

Miloud Belqadi, a teacher and researcher, believes that the elections revealed a new political force in Morocco that could change the face of politics in the future.

"While it's true that these elections showed that the PAM is a new party that must be taken seriously, we may also conclude that the regular parties such as the USFP and PPS need to review the way in which they relate to the public," he said.

The Istiqlal Party, which leads the ruling coalition, came second with 5,292 seats (19% of the total). They received 1,022,662 votes (16.6%).

The RNI, which forms part of the ruling coalition, won 4,112 seats (14.8%) and placed third. The USFP was fourth with 3,226 seats (11.6%), while the Popular Movement came fifth with 2,213 seats (8%).

The Islamist PJD performed poorly. Winning just 1,513 seats (7.4%), the main opposition party made no gains.

"Admittedly, the party limited its coverage to 38% of all seats," said party spokesman Lahcen Daoudi, "but it should be noted that the PJD fell victim to certain dishonest practices engaged in by the authorities and some partisan quarters."

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The UC and PPS won 1,303 seats (4.7% of the vote) and 1,102 seats (4% of votes) respectively.

The interior minister announced that 3,406 women were elected in Friday's poll, as compared with 127 in 2003. Additionally, 18% of the winners are under age 35.

The final turnout was 52.4% (7 million voters) of a total of 13,360,000 registered voters.

"The turnout figure shows that people are regaining their faith in politics somewhat," said Nizar Baraka of the Istiqlal Party. "Parties must now continue their efforts to anchor this faith in the minds of the public, especially young people."

This content was commissioned for Magharebia.com.
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zakaria bouissoui Posted 2009-06-14

I don't think there is anything new in these elections. Even if the tractor party wins, we see the same figures in Morocco. As to the voter turnout, it really reflects reality. The overall number of voters is about 20 million. Only 13 millions of them went to bring their cards and only 5.5 millions of them voted. What could this be? Morocco are associated with politics through goodness and charity...??

Moroccan Patriot Posted 2009-06-14

How many people who live in Morocco even know anyone who voted? If more than 50% of the population participated, how is that nobody I know voted? How is it that nobody I know even knows anybody who voted? From what I heard, people were paid to vote... An election does not a democracy make.

حسام مطلق Posted 2009-06-14

When Hegel broke down the French revolution as a code in order to project on it the movements of the lifting law, he considered that the return of the constitutional property in the hands of Napoleon is the third movement in the lifting law. Through this return, the French community would restore sublime aristocratic values and integrate them with the values of freedom which were made by the revolution. The French society would thus become at the same time free and aristocratic. Contrary to what is rumored about him, Hegel gave the human individual an important role in history. He said literally “...I recognize the active participation of humans in combating odd facts...Humans fervently deny phases of the historical operation with other maturer phases. This happens when a need surges in them to act against the content which constituted former values...”. Therefore, he believes that the value change which leads with its movement continuity to the cultural development is the result of the accumulation of partial acts of ordinary people without canceling the role of major events or major actors. However, it starts from the principle of convergence of elements in directing the overall movement. Arabs need the return of aristocracy and property parties not as a way of acknowledging inequality between classes, as law should rule everyone, and not as a way of degrading the dignity of the laymen, but history has rules with which it works. It is a denial of the Hegelian denial. I will give you this example. Let's say we are in a juice plant. The aim of the plant is to make profit for the owner. In order to make profit, the production should be good and should keep abreast with requirements of the market. The product should always be subject to dialectic law. The product process begins with putting the plastic glass on the movement belt. This happened with the formation of the map of the Middle East, the emergence of Arab countries and Israel. The second phase is to pour juice in th glass. This was represented by ideological reviews. The third phase is sealing the glass to preserve the juice unpolluted. This is the period of conservation value. The problem in the Arabic situation is the ignorance of revolutionary regimes of the importance of values in the souls of people and their importance in the stability of relations between individuals, organizations and different entities to secure the mutual interaction which gives the vitality of continuity.

saidani miloud Posted 2009-06-14

No comment for the time being.Time will reveal the authentic results...

LAMIRI Mustapha Posted 2009-06-14

Salam- First and foremost, I would like to sincerely congratulate PAM on its stunning, historic victory. Moreover, whether it be regarding PAM or the other parties, in order to join their words to actions, there are certain working means that are required. I will cite them: first, elected council members need to do an internship or, more precisely, need to receive training in management in order to master community administrative affairs well; second, community council members need to treat all the citizens equally within their well-determined community and not just the members of the party that won the community, as the latter increases corruption and fraud; thirds, the communities need to publish an annual report on community management with an analyses of programmes, expenses and so on, and disciplinary measure need to be taken against those who go off track; fourth, the council members need to visit the citizens in their communities at least once per quarter. Allow me to tell you of a very, very good example of a man who was re-elected in Agadir: Mr Tarik Kabbaj. The people saw what he had done, the time he devoted to improving their community, his skill, his good management and so on. The USFP is proud of him. So, why not follow this example and apply it at the national level? -Stay strong

SIMO Posted 2009-06-15

This is déjà vu! Déjà vu! Déjà vu! Déjà vu! In the end, Morocco does not benefit at all from the mistakes it has made in the past. Once again we have an artificial governmental creation on the executive, legislative, judicial and so on and so on order! I am a Moroccan who refuses to cede any of his prerogatives and, consequently, who persists in believing that neither the Moroccans, nor the politics, nor a lot of other things have changed at all in Morocco. This time, this unforgivable blunder risks being catastrophic for the country and, thus, for everyone! Poor Morocco, it is having a heart attack!!! Who has ever spoken about an oncoming heart attack before it happens!?!

ANA Posted 2009-06-15

History is forever repeating. Just like before, we created new parties which came to be called administrative parties. Just like before, these "parties" had "large victories". Just like before, they tried to mock the people and make us forget about the future of this country. And! And! And, just like before, they "recognised we were on the verge of a heart attack." Afterward, after the strident failure of this stupid band-aid treatment it will be just like before... just like before... Can we avoid such a pointless waste of time for this country this time!? Can we think seriously about the future of this country and its wounded people!?

salim Posted 2009-06-15

The election is not right because the ministers do not do their jobs like they should.

PJD 1er parti urbain Posted 2009-06-16

I congratulate the first party in Morocco to receive the highest percentage of votes fairly and responsibly: the PJD. I do not know if you are aware that it is moreover the first to at it came in first at the city level, where the voting is done by a ballot list. In Casablanca, for example, it heads the city council with 31 seats. It is likewise in Rabat, Kenitra, Salé, Tangier, Chechaouen and so on. Know, too, that the number of seats belonging to the rural communes is about 1200 out of the 1500 total; only 300 seats are for the urban communities of Morocco. And, in the absence of rural militants, the PJD nearly managed to be number one, but PAM won because rural votes. The rural people do not vote for programmes and the party as a whole (its philosophy, that is), but for people and familial and tribal connections. You need to do away with the bias as a whole in order to see the real results of this election, where the PJD has once again reaffirmed that it is the centre of public trust, objectively speaking.

maha Posted 2009-06-16

Look at the reports of voting stations, they are contradictory with the observers of stations. Moreover, there are errors in the central station (local committee for counting votes). The reports of most of them were modified, changed and corrected. Just ask those who participated in the counting operation. It is impossible in the constitutional law that 3 lists out of 14 win. The first list achieved the weakness of the second list though the second list had a long experience in previous communal elections unlike the first list. Boudra and his group snatched in previous elections 14000 on the regional level. Total fraud. Workers of local businesses are registered on electoral lists without having residence certificates. This is a serious crime. Behind the list of the tractor, there are engineers experts in running the electoral process smoothly + corrupting and distributing illegal money. They use offices, houses and cars with Dutch and German registration. They come from Nador, Mellilla, Northern cities and Europe.

FOUAD Posted 2009-06-17

What a large victory for the King's friends' party, the Microwave Party - a party that was cooked in minutes just after having been dedicated before to such and such. This is a reticent failure for one and nearly only political party in Morocco that deserved respect: the USFP. And this is not only for its past and present militants, but also (and more importantly) for its progressive ideas and credible, professional programmes for the future at the level of its lower ranks of militants. This party was in fact punished by the government because it "committed" two grave errors: The first error was necessary but also "unacceptable" in the context of present-day Morocco, as it demanded the separation of power and, as a consequence, the limiting of the Monarchy's powers. The second error was that it behaved like a mediocre administrative party, accepting to "compromise" with the PJD, the retrograde Islamist party. Many militants are not ready to accept these politicking policies on the part of the USFP. It would preserve the trust in the future if it insisted on the first point and also put an end to all forms of co-operation with obscurantists on all sides, that is: abandoned the second point. A word to the wise! -Bye

zakaria Posted 2009-06-17

Very good opinions, may God assist you. Thank you.

FOUAD Posted 2009-06-18

The PJD is the first urban party!? The PJD is not a "normal" party: it wants to monopolise our religion, making it all its own and using it as a means to take power, a base, truly base political means. With regards to being considered politically for elections, this party normally ought to be prohibited, as it leads people to err and attacks Islam. Let us not even speak of its political, economic and social programmes, not to mention it future plans. This obscurantist pseudo-party wants to make us go back 14 centuries. And, this "strategy" (?) is based solely on lies, threats, Hell, the rejection of others, the hatred of foreigners, the hatred of live and joy and positive development toward the future. Islam - real Islam - has nothing to do with these retrograde, underdeveloped, obscurantist delusions,. Islam is love, peace, joy and understanding for all humanity in this life, first, and for eternity, afterward. So, let us prohibit these harbingers of bad omen from instrumentalising Islam ad attacking it with their obnoxious nonsense. Islam - YES! PJD - NO! NO! NO! Islam does not need some people to defend it, particularly retrograde obscurantists like the PJD and other reactionary "Islamists"!!!

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