Morocco’s Political Parties Clash Over Electoral System Ahead of Legislative Vote

The deposits have been effective since Sunday, but nothing has leaked out about the content of these memoranda filed by the party leaders, specifies the daily Al Ahdath Al Maghribia. However, they remain divided against the electoral system but agree on the proposal of the ministry to organize the legislative and local elections on the same day.

According to the same daily, this prejudicial issue of the electoral system also divides within the majority. If part of the governing coalition leans towards changing the electoral system and returning to the uninominal system, the second part supports the maintenance of the current list system while a third part opts for the two systems at the same time. As for the promoters of the latter option, they propose to maintain the list system only for constituencies with more than 70,000 inhabitants.

As for the other parties, they call for the restoration of the uninominal system. A combination that Morocco has already experimented with in the period preceding the constitutional reform of 2011, recalls the same newspaper. On the side of the ruling party, there is no need to change the electoral system, which has served it well in the last two legislative elections. Thanks to the rule of the largest remainder, the PJD, the only party to support it, has managed to win a significant number of seats, to fight "electoral corruption" and to create a balance between the different political forces.

In addition, the majority of parties are in favor of changing the voting day but no date has been proposed so far in favor of Friday, traditionally chosen for elections. While most political parties have proposed that all the electoral elections scheduled for 2021 (municipal, regional and legislative) be organized on the same day, others join the position of the Ministry of the Interior. They suggest that the legislative and local elections be organized to avoid large expenses for the State (nearly 1 billion for each election).