The Daily Star
Middle East
Agence France Presse
Moroccans will go to the polls on Oct. 7 for the second general election since the king made constitutional reforms in 2011 following Arab Spring protests, the government said Thursday.
Campaigning will begin on Sept. 24, Communications Minister Mustapha El-Khalfi told reporters.
In 2011, the Justice and Development Party (PJD) became the North African country’s first Islamist party to win a national election, and the first to lead a government.
The PJD, led by Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane, also performed strongly in last September’s regional elections, winning 25.6 percent of 678 council seats.
The 2011 reforms included a new constitution curbing most, but not all, of the near-absolute powers of King Mohammed VI, the scion of a monarchy that has ruled the country for more than three centuries.
Previously the monarch could choose his prime minister, but he must now appoint someone from the party that wins the most seats in parliament.
