Local poll catches headlines in Morocco
Morocco, Politics, 8/30/2003

The local poll Morocco will hold on September 12 made the headlines of Morocco's Friday press which stressed that the ongoing electoral campaign is an opportunity to open a new page and forget an era marked by irregularities and errors.

Under the title of "Elections for a Fresh Era," "Liberation" daily in French of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP, in government) said "it is high time we offered our country elections reflecting the genuine image of the new era," because although there was a focus on this idea was in political actors' speeches, it lacked concrete action.

The paper added King Mohammed VI's speech on the Throne Day celebrated last July 30 is "an open invitation to be part of the new political ethics whose key words are transparency, franchise and responsibility."

"Le Matin du Sahara et du Maghreb" (pro-government) said the new charter on local councils "enhances the autonomy of grass-root local councils by broadening the scope of their tasks and setting up a bunch of implements that enable the exploitation of all potentials."

For "Al Bayane" daily of the Party for Progress and Socialism (PPS, in government), the important step comes after September 12 poll when a momentum should be given to the efforts to develop the country, "which despite its huge potentials, suffers from a serious problem of apathy."

The newspaper believes that local councils are the backbone for the elaboration of cities' promotion programs and the perfect framework for conducting the policies of localization that concern the fundamental needs of populations.

According to the paper, it is possible to make the upcoming six-year mandate a period to tackle the huge deficit that accumulated since independence from France in 1956.

"Assabah" daily (independent) said the campaign which started Wednesday will definitely be a split with previous campaigns, adding that the current poll should "mark a transition from the game of persons' glorification to the valorization of parties given the nature of the voting system by list which forces parties to present good programs instead of enumerating the qualities of their candidates.

For its part, "Al Haraka" hoped that both electors and the elected will put the nation's interest on top of their priorities.

Previous Stories:
  Morocco's political parties embark on local poll campaign   (8/29/2003)
  Over 122,000 candidates run for local polls in Morocco   (8/29/2003)
  Visao: underlines King Mohammed's will to improve women's condition   (8/29/2003)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search