Morocco in election mode

Election fever has gripped the Fez Medina. Large groups of young people in white hats and local candidates have been handing out fliers and parading through the streets with banners, attempting to whip up support for their preferred party in the local council (or communal) elections, due to take place throughout Morocco on Friday June 12.

Around 30 parties are set to compete for 27,000 rural and urban council seats across about 22,000 electoral districts. This election, a quota has been imposed on all parties to guarantee a 12 per cent minimum of female representation, and the voting age has been lowered from 23 to 21. As many of those campaigning have been in the younger age bracket, this should see a better turn out than at the last election which saw only at 37 per cent of the population at the polls.

The elections come in the wake of an amendment to the Communal Charter that organizes and determines the role of the communes. According to several analysts, it is intended to strengthen the political power of the communes, to reinforce their independence and to increase their accountability - and ultimately ensure good governance.

One of many election posters

The government has announced through the Ministry of the Interior that “all measures will be taken to prevent vote-rigging”, which has been a considerable problem in the past. In October 2006, more than 60 people were arrested in a government clamp-down on electoral fraud relating to the polls held the previous month.

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news