2002 Moroccan general election

Last updated

2002 Moroccan general election
Flag of Morocco.svg
  1997 27 September 2002 2007  

325 seats in the House of Representatives
163 seats needed for a majority
PartyLeader%Seats+/–
USFP Abderrahmane Youssoufi 11.8850-7
Istiqlal Abbas El Fassi 9.8948+16
PJD Abdelkrim al-Khatib 9.8442New
RNI Ahmed Osman 9.2841-5
MP Mohand Laenser 6.5627-13
MNP Mahjoubi Aherndane 5.1618-1
UC Mohamed Abied 5.1416-34
FFD Thami Khiari 4.9012+3
PND Abdellah Elkadiri 4.5612+2
PPS Ismail Alaoui 4.5511+2
Democratic Union 4.0410New
PSD Aissa Ouardighi 2.966+1
MDS Mahmoud Archane 2.707-25
Al-ʽAhd 2.285New
Alliance of Liberties 2.184-5
PCNI 1.991New
PRD Abderrahman El Kuhen 1.833New
Citizens' Forces Abderrahim Lahyuyi 1.722New
PED Ahmed Alami 1.502New
Liberal Mohammed Ziane 1.363New
PSUG 1.353New
PDI Abdelwahed Maach Maach 1.012+1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Prime Minister beforePrime Minister after
Abderrahmane Youssoufi
USFP
Driss Jettou
Independent

General elections were held in Morocco on 27 September 2002. The elections were the first since King Mohammed VI of Morocco had come to the throne in 1999 and international observers saw it as a test of his commitment to democracy. [1] The election saw an Islamist party the Justice and Development Party make strong gains but the outgoing government kept a majority in the Assembly of Representatives.

Contents

Campaign

The election took place under a revised voting system in which 325 deputies were elected from 91 constituencies. [1] The new rules guaranteed women would be at least 10% of the Assembly of Representatives by reserving 30 seats for them. [2] In total 5,865 candidates from 26 political parties and 5 lists of independents stood in the election including 965 female candidates. [2] [3] With many voters illiterate, each party had different symbols such as a car, alarm clock, horse, wasp or lamp which were printed on the ballot paper for voters to select. [4]

Even the prime minister, Abderrahmane Youssoufi, agreed that previous elections in Morocco had been rigged but the new King Mohammed VI had pledged that this election should be kept free. Indeed, observers at polling stations reported that the election was much cleaner than previous elections. [4] The campaign itself was low key with a low turnout expected. Issues raised in the campaign included rising prices, a salary freeze, economic stability and improvements in education and public health. [3] Poverty and unemployment, combined with the powers which the King had reserved to himself meant many people saw little reason to vote. [1] [2]

The only Islamist party to stand in the election, the Justice and Development Party, did not stand in all of the seats to ensure it would not provoke violence such as had occurred in neighbouring Algeria after the 1991 election. [4] They supported the introduction of Islamic law but pledged to work within the existing political system. [5] The banned Islamist group Al Adl Wa Al Ihssane was seen as being the popular group in the country but called on supporters to boycott the election as they said it would achieve nothing. [4]

Results

The results saw the Justice and Development Party make strong gains and over doubled its vote share to become the third largest party in parliament. [6] However the parties that made up the previous coalition kept a strong majority in the legislature with the Socialist Union of Popular Forces remaining the largest party. [6] Women won 35 seats in the legislature, [3] a big increase from the two who had been elected in the 1997 election. [7]

Following the election King Mohammed VI appointed the interior minister Driss Jettou as prime minister [8] and a new government was formed with roughly the same political parties supporting the coalition as before the election. [9]

PartyVotes%Seats
LocalNationalTotal+/–
Socialist Union of Popular Forces 718,72511.8845550–7
Istiqlal Party 598,2269.8944448+16
Justice and Development Party 595,4399.8438442+33
National Rally of Independents 561,5149.2837441–5
Popular Movement 396,9326.5625227–13
National Popular Movement 312,2395.1616218–1
Constitutional Union 310,9395.1414216–34
Front of Democratic Forces 296,2884.9010212+3
National Democratic Party 275,8844.5610212+2
Party of Progress and Socialism 275,0244.559211+2
Democratic Union 244,5584.049110New
Democratic Socialist Party 179,1312.96606+1
Democratic and Social Movement 163,5462.70707–25
Al-ʽAhd 138,1862.28505New
Alliance of Liberties 131,7962.18404New
National Ittihadi Congress 120,3301.99101New
Reform and Development Party 110,6331.83303New
Citizens' Forces 104,2471.72202New
Environment and Development Party 90,6091.50202New
Moroccan Liberal Party 82,0881.36303New
Party of the Unified Socialist Left 81,9851.35303–1
Democratic Independence Party 61,2581.01202+1
Citizen Initiative for Development 49,7100.82000New
Party of Renewal and Equity 39,4830.65000New
Action Party 28,5630.47000–2
Independents83,3461.38000New
Total6,050,679100.00295303250
Valid votes6,050,67984.45
Invalid/blank votes1,114,52715.55
Total votes7,165,206100.00
Registered voters/turnout13,884,46751.61
Source: García

Related Research Articles

Politics of Morocco take place in a framework of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, whereby the prime minister of Morocco is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Assembly of Representatives of Morocco and the Assembly of Councillors. The Moroccan Constitution provides for a monarchy with a Parliament and an independent judiciary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Poland (1989–present)</span> Aspect of history

In 1989–1991, Poland engaged in a democratic transition which put an end to the Polish People's Republic and led to the foundation of a democratic government, known as the Third Polish Republic, following the First and Second Polish Republics. After ten years of democratic consolidation, Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union on 1 May 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justice and Development Party (Turkey)</span> Conservative and right-wing populist political party in Turkey

The Justice and Development Party, abbreviated officially AK Party in English, is a political party in Turkey self-describing as conservative-democrat. It is one of the two major parties of contemporary Turkey along with the Republican People's Party (CHP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Movement of Society for Peace</span> Political party in Algeria

The Movement of Society for Peace, sometimes known by its shortened form Hamas is an Islamic party in Algeria, led by Mahfoud Nahnah until his death in 2003. Its current leader is Abderrazak Makri. It is aligned with the international Muslim Brotherhood.

The Socialist Union of Popular Forces is a social-democratic political party in Morocco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justice and Development Party (Morocco)</span> Moroccan political party

The Justice and Development Party is a political party in Morocco that advocates for political Islam. It was the ruling party of Morocco from 2011 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Popular Movement (Morocco)</span> Political party in Morocco

The Popular Movement is a royalist and traditionalist rural-focused political party in Morocco. It is a member of Liberal International. The party has a history of cooperating with two other parties with a liberal orientation, the National Rally of Independents and the Constitutional Union, since 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Iraqi Alliance</span> Political party in Iraq

The National Iraqi Alliance, also known as the Watani List, is an Iraqi electoral coalition that contested the 2010 Iraqi legislative election. The Alliance is mainly composed of Shi'a Islamist parties. The alliance was created by the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq to contest in the January 2005 and December 2005 under the name United Iraqi Alliance, when it included all Iraq's major Shi'a parties. The United Iraqi Alliance won both those of elections however later fell apart after several major parties left the alliance due to disputes with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the Supreme Council.

There exist a number of perspectives on the relationship of Islam and democracy among Islamic political theorists, the general Muslim public, and Western authors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Istiqlal Party</span> Political party in Morocco

The Istiqlal Party is a political party in Morocco. It is a conservative and monarchist party and a member of the Centrist Democrat International and International Democrat Union. Istiqlal headed a coalition government under Abbas El Fassi from 19 September 2007 to 29 November 2011. From 2013 to 2021, it was part of the opposition. Since 2021 it is part of a coalition government led by Aziz Akhannouch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Rally of Independents</span> Political party in Morocco

The National Rally of Independents, is a political party in Morocco. Despite self-identifying as social-democratic, the party has been described as pro-business and liberal, and the party has a history of cooperating with two other parties with a liberal orientation, the Popular Movement and the Constitutional Union, since 1993. Since September 2021, it has been the country's ruling party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saadeddine Othmani</span> Former Prime Minister of Morocco

Saadeddine Othmani, sometimes translated as Saad Eddine el-Othmani, is a Moroccan politician. He served as the 16th prime minister of Morocco from 17 March 2017 to 7 October 2021. Previously he served as foreign minister from 2012 to 2013.

Parliamentary elections were held in Morocco on 7 September 2007, the second of King Mohammed VI's reign. Voter turnout was estimated to be 37%, the lowest in Moroccan political history. There were 33 different parties and 13 independent candidates competing for 325 assembly seats. An amount of $61 million was allocated by the Moroccan government to organize the 2007 elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2002 Algerian legislative election</span>

Parliamentary elections were held in Algeria on 30 May 2002 to elect members of the People's National Assembly. The governing National Liberation Front (FLN) won a majority of seats in the election. The election suffered from a low turnout, violence and boycotts by some opposition parties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Authenticity and Modernity Party</span> Moroccan political party

The Authenticity and Modernity Party is a political party in Morocco. It was founded in 2008 by Fouad Ali El Himma, an advisor to the king Mohammed VI, and it has been perceived by its opponents and the press as being backed and directed by the monarchy. As such, it has been accused of having little ideology except for support of the monarchy, although some of its policies have been described as progressive-liberal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011–2012 Moroccan protests</span> Protest

The Moroccan protests are a series of demonstrations across Morocco which occurred from 20 February 2011 to the fall of 2012. They were inspired by other protests in the region. The protests were organized by the 20 February Movement.

Early general elections were held in Morocco on 25 November 2011, brought forward from 2012 and then postponed from 7 October 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdelilah Benkirane</span> Moroccan politician

Abdelilah Benkirane is a Moroccan politician who was Prime Minister of Morocco from November 2011 to March 2017. After having won a plurality of seats in the 2011 parliamentary election, his party, the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party formed a coalition with three parties that had been part of previous governments.

General elections were held in Morocco on 7 October 2016. The ruling Justice and Development Party remained the largest party, winning 125 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives, a gain of 18 seats compared to the 2011 elections.

General elections were held in Morocco on 8 September 2021 to elect 395 members of the House of Representatives. The National Rally of Independents led by Aziz Akhannouch won the most seats (102), a gain of 65 seats from the prior election. The liberal Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) took second place with 87 seats, a net loss of 15 seats. The centre-right Istiqlal Party gained 35 seats and took third place with 81 seats total. The governing Justice and Development Party suffered an electoral wipeout and won only 13 seats, a net loss of 112 seats for the party.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Moroccan poll will test commitment to democracy". Financial Times . 27 September 2002. p. 13.
  2. 1 2 3 Leicester, John (28 September 2002). "Moroccans to elect 30 female MPs". The Scotsman . p. 13.
  3. 1 2 3 "MOROCCO: parliamentary elections Majliss-annouwab, 2002". Inter-Parliamentary Union . Retrieved 13 May 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Tremlett, Giles (28 September 2002). "In brief: Islamists hold key to Moroccan elections: King relaxes reins to allow first step towards real democracy". The Guardian . p. 15.
  5. Leicester, John (29 September 2002). "Moroccan fundamentalist party in election gains". Scotland on Sunday . p. 24.
  6. 1 2 Wilkinson, Isambard (30 September 2002). "Islamic upsurge in Morocco poll". The Daily Telegraph . p. 41.
  7. "MOROCCO: parliamentary elections Majlis Nawab, 1997". Inter-Parliamentary Union . Retrieved 13 May 2009.
  8. "Moroccan king names new Cabinet, no rep from Islamic party". Toronto Star . 8 November 2002. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012.
  9. "Morocco unveils new coalition". BBC Online . 8 November 2002.