Morocco Considers Postponing Elections Amid COVID-19 Surge, PM Says

The new restrictive measures announced by the government, including a curfew from 9pm to 5am and a ban on travel to and from Casablanca, Marrakech and Agadir, came into effect yesterday. They could lead to the postponement of the legislative and municipal elections. Invited on Tuesday, August 3 to the MAP forum, Saâdeddine El Othmani does not rule out this eventuality. However, he specified that the subject has not yet been discussed within the government.

During this meeting focused on the theme "The 2021 elections: has the time come for the PJD to take stock?", the head of government addressed other issues, including the new electoral quotient calculated on the basis of registered voters instead of valid votes, as well as the cancellation of the electoral threshold. According to El Othmani, the aim is to cap the PJD’s results and reduce the number of seats the party could obtain in the legislative elections. "This decision is anti-democratic and undermines Moroccan democracy," he denounced.

The abolition of the electoral threshold constitutes "a dangerous problem that will lead to an unprecedented balkanization in the composition of elected councils at the local level, which will undermine democracy and local development," added the leader of the Islamists.