No side in Morocco wishes postponement of coming elections, says El Yazghi
Morocco, Politics, 6/29/2002

No side in Morocco wishes the postponement of the coming elections, said minister of territory development, urbanism, housing and environment, Mohamed El Yazghi.

El Yazghi, who is the assistant first secretary of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) of Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi, made the statement to reporters in Rabat Friday in answer to a question on the Constitutional Council's ruling turning down as unconstitutional some provisions of the amended electoral vote.

He expressed hope that the government would "find a solution to this issue in the lapse of time ahead of the date of the elections," scheduled for next September.

The Constitutional Council has turned down as unconstitutional some provisions of the amended electoral code. The provisions that were declared unconstitutional concern the proportional list voting system according to the rule of the strongest average survives, and that provides for the election of 295 members at the level of constituencies and 30 members at the national level. These 30 seats were to be reserved to women.

The council argued that voters cannot simultaneously vote for a national and a local list.

The Council rejected two other provisions concerning the condition for candidates wishing to run for the elections to be member of a political party and the necessity for members of the House of Representatives to resign if they wish to run as candidate to the chamber of advisors (upper house).

El Yazghi said the government will look into the Constitutional Council's decision "to draw the conclusion thereon." The government tabled the draft electoral code after extensive dialogue and on the basis of prospective vision, "so that the coming elections mark a new era in the life of our institutions and our political system," he said.

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