A woman voted on July 1 near Rabat.
Moroccan residents of Trowbridge went to the polls at the weekend to vote on the biggest change in their homeland for a generation.
The country is going through an intense period of change after King Mohammed VI answered calls for reform following angry protests earlier this year. The King offered to change the way parliament works and voters were last week given a chance to have their say on the proposals.
There were four polling stations in Britain – in London, Manchester, Ediburgh and in Courts Mill, in Polebarn Road, Trowbridge. The county town has the biggest Moroccan community outside of the capital and was the natural choice for one of the polling stations to cover hundreds of voters in the south west region.
Abdel Bouterfas, chairman of the Trowbridge Moroccan Community, said: “Around 98 per cent of people who voted wanted to see the change. We have had some changes over the last few years but this is radical.
“It will mean that the Prime Minister will be accountable to parliament and the people rather than just to the King. The members of parliament will not be immune to prosecution either.”
South West Wiltshire MP Andrew Murrison, who is also chairman of the All party Moroccan Group, said: “This event is highly significant and the King of Morocco’s efforts to steer his country towards constitutional democracy is a bright light in the political firmament of North Africa and the Middle East which I have spoken about in the Commons.”
Polling in Trowbridge at the weekend was supervised by consular staff from the Moroccan embasy in London.
Morocco is the first Arab nation to hold an election since the ‘Arab Spring’ protests earlier this year which swept across the region. The result showed that 98 per cent of people support the reforms which will give greater rights to women and minorities among its many changes.
Matters of foreign policy and religion, however, will still be controlled by the King.
