Administration shall observe neutrality in coming elections
Moroccan minister of the interior, Driss Jettou, asserted that the administration shall observe total neutrality in the coming legislative elections and that his department is ready for the elections and is only awaiting the agreement of the political parties on the voting mode.
Jettou said in an interview published Sunday by Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat that King Mohammed VI had given him clear instructions on the transparency of the coming elections, when he appointed him (last September 19). I will see to this transparency, he pledged.
Such a goal does not however concern the interior ministry alone but also the government, the political parties, the civil society and all Moroccan citizens, he said.
We must all see to it that these elections unfold in democracy and transparency, he insisted adding that political parties must present competent and honest candidates to avoid the use of money.
He said that his department was ready for the elections, that it presented three proposals on the voting mode and that it was just awaiting that political parties agree on the mode to be adopted. He expressed hope that as wished by King Mohammed VI a national consensus on the matter will be reached.
As to the date of the elections, Jettou said his department is taking into consideration the scheduled date of next September. He also expressed hope that the parliament would adopt before the end of February the electoral code so that there is enough time for the government, and especially the interior ministry, to prepare the elections and mainly to draw the electoral lists.
Jettou confirmed that his department has received new applications for the creation of political parties. He said Morocco is a democratic state where the rule of law prevails, so any organization fulfilling the required conditions will benefit from the right to exist. He stated further that the existing parties represent all political and intellectual trends and that it would be better to stay at that point.
