Morocco Considers Parliamentary Representation for Overseas Citizens

Moroccans residing abroad (MREs) will soon be able to have a list in parliament, replacing the one for young people which would be abolished, reports the daily Al Ahdath Al Maghribia, which specifies that this list is the ticket for the participation of MREs in the next electoral deadlines scheduled for this year. But it should be noted that this list could not be used without it being mentioned in the electoral code before the holding of the election.

The direct participation of MREs in the elections had not been approved by the Benkirane government, which had argued its inability to deploy the necessary logistics for such an operation and proposed in its place voting by proxy. A proposal that was opposed by the delegate minister in charge of MREs, Nezha El Ouafi, who considered voting by proxy as "an injustice towards Moroccans residing abroad who enjoy the full rights of citizenship, including the right to vote and to stand for election."

The proposal of the PAM parliamentary group in the House of Representatives should make it possible to activate Article 17 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to vote for MREs. Supported by the PJD, it had been submitted for the appreciation of the government of Saâd-Eddine El Othmani. According to this article, "Moroccans residing abroad enjoy the rights of full citizenship, including the right to be voters and eligible. They can stand as candidates in elections at the level of local, regional and national electoral lists and constituencies. The law sets the specific criteria for eligibility and incompatibility. It also determines the conditions and procedures for the effective exercise of the right to vote and to stand for election from the countries of residence."

Noting this lack of unanimity on the subject, Minister Nezha El Ouafi had called for the opening of a national debate in order to find a national consensus for the activation of Article 17 which, according to her, constitutes one of the constitutional achievements of Morocco.