New York Times
Zacarias Garcia/European Pressphoto Agency
A banner encouraged Moroccans to exercise their right to vote in downtown Rabat.
By SOUAD MEKHENNET and MAÏA DE LA BAUME
RABAT, Morocco — Under pressure from the Arab Spring uprisings, King Mohammed VI of Morocco proposed a new constitution last summer providing for a more empowered Parliament. On Friday, voters went to the polls to determine its makeup.
The new constitution reserves critical powers for the throne, which retains absolute authority over military and religious matters. But while still appointed by the king, the prime minister must be chosen from the party with the most seats in Parliament.
Analysts say that given Morocco’s complex proportional electoral system and the few requirements for aspiring candidates and parties — there are 5,873 candidates from 33 parties — it is unlikely that one party will emerge with a majority. About 13 million voters are eligible to elect 395 members of Parliament. Results are to be announced on Saturday.
With widespread disenchantment with the political elite, there are concerns about the turnout. There are also questions about how well the Islamist Justice and Development Party will perform, especially after the victory of Tunisia’s main Islamist party, Ennahda, in elections last month.
While the party is expected to end up with the largest number of seats in Parliament, it is unlikely to gain a majority. But it is considered likely to produce the next prime minister who, under the new constitution, will have the power to appoint ministers and to dissolve Parliament
Some Moroccans are nervous that the party will back anti-Western policies if brought to power. “The party is moderate only because it wants to be integrated into the political game,” said Khadija Mohsen-Finan, a political expert in Paris.
The disenchantment with politics here is real, and some activists have called for a boycott of the vote. The February 20 Movement for Change, which led protests this year, is urging its supporters not to vote. Turnout could be lower than 50 percent, but analysts are optimistic that it will be higher than the 37 percent who voted in the last elections in 2007. They see the disengagement as a result of unhappiness with an elite seen by many as corrupt.
“They promised farmers that they would provide better streets and better support,” said Ahmad al-Wahbi, a farmer from near Casablanca. “They’ve done almost nothing,” he said, adding that he would not vote on Friday.
Another farmer, Ahmad Sarraj, 26, was more cautious. “We see what is going on in Egypt and Libya,” he said. “We don’t want this, we need to move forward.”
The size of the turnout was uncertain on Friday morning.
In interviews on the streets of Rabat, Casablanca and rural areas, many people seemed frustrated about political parties in general, saying the only person who could move the country forward would be the king himself. But that frustration has not translated automatically into support for groups calling for a boycott of the vote.
In the previous election, before the Arab Spring, voter participation in 2007 was only 37 percent.
There are two things that people are talking about,” said Mohamad Darif, a political analyst at the Hassan II University in Casablanca. One was which party would emerge with a plurality, because the new constitution empowers the king to choose a prime minister from the party with the most votes.
“The second big question is how many people will participate,” Mr. Darif said.
Souad Mekhennet reported from Rabat, and Maïa de la Baume from Paris.
