Moderate Islamist Party Winning Morocco Election
A moderate Islamist party appeared Saturday to have won parliamentary elections in Morocco, the second time in weeks that voters in the region have chosen Islamists in elections brought on by the Arab Spring.
The Justice and Development Party won a plurality of the vote, the first under the country’s new Constitution, according to partial election returns announced by the government on Saturday. If those results hold up, the king will be required to choose a prime minister from the party and the party will have the right to lead a coalition government.
The Constitution, drafted by King Mohammed VI in response to pro-democracy protests last spring, still reserves important powers for the king, including over military and religious matters, and remains a far cry from the constitutional monarchy demanded by the protesters. But the government will be Morocco’s first popularly elected one, with the power to appoint ministers and dissolve Parliament.
In Tunisia last month, voters also elected a moderate Islamist party, Ennahda, in that country’s first free election.
According to preliminary figures released by Morocco’s Interior Ministry on Saturday, Justice and Development won 80 seats of the 288 seats in which winners were announced. Of the remaining seats in the 395-seat body, 17 were still being counted while 90 will be distributed proportionally, assuring that Justice and Development will retain its plurality.
The party of the incumbent prime minister, Istiqlal, the historic party of the monarchy, came in second with 45 seats of those announced. The center-right National Rally of Independents, led by the incumbent finance minister, came in third, with 38 seats.
The final official results of the Friday vote are expected to be issued Sunday.