Moroccan government says no delay in communal elections

Communal elections in Morocco will be held in the legal deadlines, said in Rabat Thursday spokesman of the Moroccan government and communication minister, Nabil Benabdellah.

Speaking after a government meeting, the spokesman said the meeting, chaired by prime minister Driss Jettou, looked into a series of laws and draft laws related to the legal framework of elections.

It adopted the draft law modifying the House of Representatives organic law, a draft law modifying and completing the electoral code, and amendment projects to some of the personal statute code provisions dealing with the voting age, said the minister. King Mohammed VI had decided last December 10 to lower the voting age from 20 to 18.

The government had also agreed to conduct an exceptional revision of the elector lists and to allow non-partisan candidates to run for the communal elections, said the spokesman.

He went on that the electoral system will differ from one commune to another according to its demographic density: the proportional list voting system will be adopted for communes where the population exceeds 25,000 inhabitants and the uni-nominal voting system with the proportional majority will be used for communes whose population is less than 25,000 inhabitants. Like last September's legislative elections, communal elections will also use the single ballot paper and symbols to identify political parties.

Therefore, the list voting system will be used in 159 communes, including 126 urban ones.

Likewise, the government will adopt a legal basis to allow for a larger participation of women in the coming local elections.

To a question on news reports about a wave of arrests and arbitrary detentions, the spokesman said the competent authorities will react in a clear and unequivocal way to "these unfounded rumors."