Post election: protests against results and infighting within opposition parties
Morocco, Politics, 12/13/1997

It was expected that the recent Moroccan election would lead to a change of government for the first time and it was also expected to bridge gaps in the political system and its organizations which have been dominating the political life since 1993. The opposition parties had cooperated with the government to create an honest election whose results would not be subjected to protests.

The opposition parties focused most of their energy on winning the parliamentary election and much less so on winning the Second Chamber which has the ability to disband the government.

The results of the parliamentary election which were declared on November 14 stunned many, especially in the opposition parties. The opposition parties found that this election weakened them considerably as the number of seats won did not exceed 107, including the seats the Socialist party, compared to 130 seats in the former parliament.

The opposition parties described the practices of the election campaigns and the election itself as corrupt. The Democratic Coalition parties rushed to submit protests against the results of the elections and considered that this election did not express the actual political map or the popular will. The Socialist Union declared that more than 40 seats were stolen from it.

Meanwhile the Party of Independence announced that it is convening its national council to determine its final stance towards the recent election.

Heated controversies erupted among the opposition parties over the position that should be adopted toward the prematurely held election, towards its result, and towards the practices within various parties. Those controversies reflect the state of affairs within those parties which negatively affected the Democratic Coalition and led to the disappointment of many of its supporters who had boycotted the election or left their voting cards blank.

Within this atmosphere came the resignation letter of the political office and the central committee of the coalition which was delivered to the press by former party information official, Mustafa Al Korshawy. The statement of the Union Youth called for taking a strong stance toward corrupt practices during the election.

There are also those within the Socialist Union who are calling for withdrawal from all institutions.

Amidst this atmosphere came struggles within the executive committee of the Party of Independence, which began a process of self examination as the magnitude of the political loss was realized, especialy with the failure of its deputy secretary general Mohamed Al Dewery, in addition to the failure of a great number of the members of its executive committee.

Thus the implications of the recent election are still continuing to affect political life in Morocco as it did not only lead to many protests against its results but also to many internal struggles within the opposition parties.

Previous Stories:
  The Moroccan Party of Independence to hold exceptional conference sunday   (12/12/1997)
  Moroccan party supports a coalition government   (12/11/1997)
  Judge inspects complaints against legislative election in Morocco   (12/4/1997)

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