Former Moroccan premier calls for banning use of money on polls

Abderrahmane Youssoufi, former Moroccan Premier and leader of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) on Tuesday called on Morocco's political parties to adhere to a moral charter banning the use of money in elections.

Youssoufi, who was speaking at a meeting in Rabat, said the local elections Morocco will hold on September 12, will mark a decisive stage in the perfection of the country's democratic alternation, started by the USFP and its allies in 1998.

Youssoufi had led a Moroccan center-left coalition government between 1998 and 2002. The government, called in Morocco as the alternation experiment, was the first of its kind in the North African monarchy after decades of right wing rule.

According to Youssoufi, observers will judge Morocco's capacity to set up institutions elected in an honest and transparent manner and to overcome the artificial crisis triggered over the Moroccan Sahara.

Youssoufi underlined that his party backs a stronger presence of women in Morocco's political life, as a means to enable them participate in the management of local affairs.

The new prerogatives vested on local councils will make of them a genuine engine of development, provided that these prerogatives are soundly used.

The USFP, one of Morocco's major political parties, said it has fielded 12,500 candidates in the local elections of next September 12, that is a coverage rate of 65 percent at national level.