Observation of the parliamentary elections in Morocco (8 September 2021)
Election observation report
| Doc. 15400
| 25 November 2021
1 Introduction
1. The Moroccan Parliament was
the first to receive the partner for democracy status with the Parliamentary
Assembly in 2011, committing itself to do everything possible for
future elections to be conducted according to international standards.
By signing this partnership status, it also undertook to invite the
Assembly to observe future legislative elections.
2. The Assembly observed the 2011 and 2016 parliamentary elections.
In 2016 in Morocco, the Assembly election observation mission concluded
that the legislative elections held on 7 October 2016 took place
in a calm atmosphere, with voters able to make their choice freely
from the lists presented by parties of different political sensibilities.
Major concerns included: legislative changes at a late stage; low
turnout; low participation of Moroccans living abroad; lack of independent
central electoral commission, and confusing voting slips.
3. On 12 July 2021, Ms Amina Bouayach, President of the Moroccan
National Human Rights Council (CNDH - Conseil national des droits
de l’homme), sent an invitation letter to the President of the Assembly inviting
the Assembly to observe the elections to the House of Representatives
to be held on 8 September 2021. These elections were to be held
in parallel with the local and regional elections.
4. The Bureau of the Assembly, following a written consultation,
reacted positively to this invitation and, at its meeting on 6 September
2021, confirmed its decision to observe these elections and set
up an ad hoc committee, comprising 11 members. It also confirmed
the appointment of Mr Alberto Ribolla (Italy, EC/DA) as its chairperson.
The list of members of the ad hoc committee appears in Appendix
1.
5. In line with the co-operation agreement signed on 4 October
2004 between the Assembly and the European Commission for Democracy
through Law (Venice Commission), a representative of the Venice Commission
was invited to join the ad hoc committee as a legal adviser.
6. The ad hoc committee visited Morocco from 6 to 9 September
2021 and held meetings with inter alia political
party members, the President of the CNDH, representatives of the
Ministry of the Interior, of the High Council and High Authority
for Audio-visual Communication, as well as representatives of the
international community present in Morocco and representatives of
the media and civil society. The programme of the ad hoc committee
is set out in Appendix 2.
7. On polling day, the ad hoc committee split into seven teams
which observed voting in Rabat and its region, as well as in the
towns and regions of Casablanca, Fez and Marrakesh.
8. The ad hoc committee concluded that the legislative elections
held alongside the local and regional elections were well run, in
spite of the many challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The
delegation welcomed the professionalism of the State authorities
responsible and the courtesy of the members of the polling stations,
who helped organise the poll with integrity and in transparency.
It nevertheless regretted the late introduction of changes to the
electoral law and the fact that the exercise of the right to vote
remains denied to several categories of the Moroccan population
and is made overly difficult for Moroccan citizens residing abroad.
The press release prepared following the elections appears in Appendix
3.
9. The ad hoc committee wishes to thank the Moroccan authorities
and the CNDH for their co-operation. It also extends its gratitude
to the staff of the Council of Europe office in Morocco for their
organisational and logistical support. It regrets, however, that
it was not possible to converse directly with representatives of
the various political parties, which would have enabled the ad hoc
committee to better understand the political platforms and the concerns
of the political forces in the country.
2 Political
system and legal electoral framework
10. The Kingdom of Morocco is a
constitutional monarchy. The King still exercises effective influence
and political power, albeit shared with the representative parliament.
The new Constitution adopted in 2011 was proposed by King Mohammed VI
himself and approved by referendum. Article 1 of the Constitution
describes the political system as “a constitutional, democratic,
parliamentary and social monarchy”.
11. The Constitution was adopted in the aftermath of the 20 February
2011 popular movement, which has been seen as part of the Arab Spring
movements, and which represented a significant step towards democratisation
through the increased powers of the parliament and the autonomy
of the government. Nonetheless, the balance of power remains strongly
in favour of the monarchy.
12. Executive power is exercised by the government, the head of
which is appointed by the King “from within the political party
arriving ahead in the elections of the members of the House of Representatives,
and with a view to their results” (Article 47). The King also directly
appoints the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Interior,
the Minister of Defence and the Minister of Religious Endowments
and Islamic Affairs; and enjoys a high level of decision-making
power on long-term and strategic issues, such as foreign policy,
large infrastructure projects or the status of Western Sahara. On
the religious front, the King remains the country’s foremost religious
authority and retains his title of “Commander of the Faithful”.
He can also dissolve the parliament and suspend constitutional guarantees.
Therefore, the Moroccan political system cannot quite be considered
a parliamentary one.
13. Legislative power is vested in the bicameral parliament, comprising
a lower house – the House of Representatives (Majlis al-Nuwab) –
with 395 members elected every five years by universal suffrage,
and an upper house – the House of Councillors (Majlis al-Mistacharin) –
with 120 members elected indirectly by representatives of professional
bodies, employees, the General Confederation of Business and regional
and local authorities, a third of whom are renewed every three years.
The latest elections for the House of Councillors took place a month
after the elections to the House of Representatives, on 5 October
2021.
14. The members of the House of Representatives are elected for
a five-year term. Any member of the House of Representatives who
relinquishes the political affiliation under which they stood for
election or membership of their parliamentary group or grouping,
forfeits their office. As far as immunity of parliamentarians in
office is concerned, Article 64 of the Constitution stipulates that
no member of parliament may be prosecuted, subject to a search warrant,
arrested, detained or judged on the grounds of an opinion expressed
or a vote cast by them in the exercise of their duties, except where
the opinion expressed challenges the monarchic form of the State
or the Muslim religion or constitutes a violation of the respect
due to the King.
15. The voting process for the House of Representatives is complex
and is governed by:
- Article
11 of the Constitution;
- Organic Law No. 27-11 on the House of Representatives,
which contains specific provisions on the electoral system, eligibility
requirements; declaration of candidates; electoral campaigning;
offences and sanctions; electoral operations; electoral disputes
and campaign financing;
- Law No. 57-11 on general electoral lists, referendum operations
and the use of public audiovisual means during electoral and referendumNote campaigns,
amended by Law No. 02-16. It applies to the election of the House
of Representatives with regard to the establishment and revision
of the general electoral roll, including registration requirements
and electoral disabilities;
- Organic Law No. 29-11 on political parties and Organic
Law 33-15 supplementing and amending it;
- Law No. 30-11 fixing the conditions and modalities of
independent and neutral observation of elections.
16. The 395 members of the House of Representatives are elected
by direct universal suffrage under a list system, broken down as
follows (Articles 1 and 2 of the Organic Law):
- 305 members are elected in 92
local constituencies established by decree according to a principle geared
towards geographical balance while taking account of spatial aspects.
At least one constituency is established per prefecture, for which
a number of seats determined by decree are allocated, ranging from
two to six. More than one constituency may be established in certain
prefectures or provinces. The redistricting took place in 2011 and
does not take into account the demographic changes that may have intervened
in the last 10 years.
- 90 members are elected from the regional electoral constituencies.
In
practice, it should be noted that the electoral division does not
respect the demographic balance by acting as an electoral engineering
mechanism. In general, the population residing in large cities is
under-represented, thus giving greater weight to votes from less
populated areas
17. The creation of regional constituencies is one of the novelties
introduced by the reform of the electoral law adopted in March 2021.
This reform eliminated the national electoral constituency, which
provided for a double quota of women and men under 40 years of age.
The new regional constituencies have to respect a quota for women's
representation, where the first and second positions in each candidate
list are reserved for women.
18. These measures have been regarded as being highly necessary,
for despite the slight increase in the presence of women in elected
positions, political participation of women remains contingent on
the use of affirmative action mechanisms. In the 2016 composition
of the House of Representatives, women were represented by 20,5 %;
and in the at the Chamber of Councillors – 11,5%. Only 4 out of
24 ministries were headed by women in the previous government.
19. The reform adopted in March 2021 changed the way the quotient
is calculated: it is no longer calculated on the basis of the valid
votes obtained by the lists that have reached the electoral threshold,
but on the basis of the number of registered voters – a method without
precedent in the world. This would normally result in a much higher
electoral quotient. The higher the electoral quotient, the less
likely a party is to reach it, which in practice translates into
a distribution of seats among all parties, as all seats will be
obtained according to the remainders. In sum, the new law introduced
a new seat quotient that would make it difficult for a party to
win more than one seat per constituency, something that had previously
provided the Justice and Development Party (PJD) an additional number
of seats in 23 constituencies in 2016.
20. Furthermore, the new law abolished the 3% threshold for representation,
which opened the way to a greater fragmentation of parliament. It
also abolished the previously introduced list of young people but
on the other hand it should foster women’s representation in parliament
through the replacement of the national electoral constituency by
regional electoral constituencies
21. This atomisation effect of representation is likely to be
even stronger in regional constituencies. Theoretically, with this
new electoral quotient and the abolition of the electoral threshold,
it will be almost impossible for a party to win more than one seat
in a regional constituency. Thus, for example, it was clear from its
introduction that the PJD which had obtained 27 seats on the national
list in 2016, would arithmetically not be able to obtain more than
12 seats in 2021 in the regional constituencies.
22. In 2016, the electoral threshold was reduced from 6% to 3%.
The March 2021 electoral reform removed it altogether. This abolition
aimed at favouring small political parties, which would be able
to win seats on the basis of the highest remainder, thus multiplying
the atomisation effects of the representation resulting from the change
in the calculation of the electoral quotient.
23. This reform, contested by the PJD as it clearly curbed their
chances for a third governing mandate, was approved by the parliament
with the support of all other parties. In addition, its coalition
partners frequently placed it in awkward stances over issues such
as the legalisation of cannabis cultivation for therapeutic purposes
(supported by the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM - Parti
authenticité et modernité) or the application of a controversial
temporary hiring system in the public sector, especially involving
teachers and doctors, to meet the guidelines of international financial
institutions.
3 Political landscape
in the run-up to the 2021 legislative elections
24. Since the constitutional reform
of 2011, the Moroccan political landscape has been marked by the erosion
of historical parties and the emergence of new political parties,
resulting in the atomisation of parliamentary representation (18
parties represented in parliament following the 2011 elections,
12 following the 2016 elections and 13 following the 2021 elections).
The lack of clear majorities – which is triggered also by the adoption
of a new electoral law – favours the formation of coalition governments
and thus facilitates the control of governments by the royal palace.
Similarly, the repression of social protest in the past years has
cast a shadow on the effectiveness of the constitutional institutions
that are supposed to guarantee the protection of fundamental rights.
Furthermore, in October 2018, Mohammed VI appointed an ad hoc extra-governmental commission
to draw up a “new development model” for the country. In April 2021,
this commission submitted its general report, which will undoubtedly
serve as the economic programme of the government that emerges from
these elections.
25. In the last decade, the moderate Islamist Justice and Development
Party (PJD) has been the dominant political force. However, the
party's electoral support percentages (27.08% in 2011, 27.88% in
2016) have not allowed it to form a government on its own. Following
the 2016 elections, the outgoing head of government Abdel-Ilah Benkiran
(PJD) was reappointed by the King, but the six-month stalemate in
negotiations with the other parties forced him to step down in favour
of Saad Dine El Otmani (PJD), who became head of government on 17
March 2017. The coalition included, in addition to the PJD, the
National Rally of Independents (Rassemblement National des Indépendants
– RNI), the Party of Progress and Socialism (Parti du Progrès et du
Socialisme – PPS), the Popular Movement (Mouvement Populaire – MP),
the Constitutional Union (Union Constitutionnelle – UC) and the
Socialist Union of Popular Forces (Union Socialiste des Forces Populaires
– USFP). Following the change of government in October 2019, the
PPS left the coalition.
26. March 2020 saw the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Morocco's
initial fast response to the pandemic put it among the world's Covid-19
success stories and lockdown measures were lifted by July. However,
the government's actions under the state emergency situation were
largely criticised and described as a “reversal of democratic reforms”,
with parliament being side-lined and its duties increasingly usurped
by the government. For instance, the Interior Ministry suspended
local council meetings (even remote meetings held online), an action
the Constitution has reserved exclusively for parliament.
27. In general, Morocco has known significant and long-standing
popular disaffection with political parties, which is reflected
in very low rates of participation in elections (43% in 2016, 45%
in 2011, according to data provided by the Ministry of Interior).
Disaffection has also been expressed through very high percentages
of invalid and blank ballots. For instance, the estimated percentage
of blank or invalid votes in 2016 was close to 20%.
28. According to the Moroccan Institute for Policy Analysis (MIPA)
Trust Index 2021
Note, about two-thirds of respondents
(64%) did not consider voting in the upcoming elections (2021),
compared to only 32% who were considering voting. In addition, the
study found that there is low trust in the elected institutions,
with the exception of trust in the government, which has significantly
increased in 2020, as 50% of Moroccans said they trust the current
government compared to 23% in the previous year. Furthermore, 70%
of the respondents stated that they do not trust the parliament
(with 33% not trusting it at all).
29. In response to the general public disaffection and, considering
the traditionally higher voter turnout for local elections, the
authorities decided to call for the national legislative elections
to coincide with the municipal and regional elections. The new electoral
law, besides providing for a new way to calculate the seat quotient, also
moved the elections on a working day, instead of Friday, the traditional
polling day. Several parties had argued in favour of this change
on the assumption that participation in the polls would be higher
if they were held on a working day.
30. On 8 August 2021, it was reported that the government was
considering postponing the elections due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The difficulty of carrying out election activities while limiting
transmission of the virus, as well as the economic challenges of
carrying out an election during the economic recession, were cited
as underlying factors. Meanwhile, some parties, and notably the
Ministry of Interior opposed this proposal, claiming it was a ploy
by the incumbent government to prolong its control over the nation.
4 Election administration,
voter lists and candidate registration
31. Parliamentary elections in
Morocco are run by a governmental commission for the elections formed
by the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice. In
practical terms, the Ministry of the Interior manages the electoral
process. There is no independent professional structure in the form
of a central election commission, which has been a long-standing
recommendation by the Assembly.
32. Election observation and accreditation issues are run by a
Special Commission for the Accreditation of Election Observers,
which is chaired by the President of the CNDH or her delegate. This
special Commission is made up of: four members representing the
government authorities responsible for Justice, the Interior, Foreign
Affairs and Cooperation, and Communication; a representative of
the Inter-ministerial Delegation for Human Rights; a representative
of the National Authority for Integrity, Prevention and the Fight
against Corruption; representatives of civil society associations
represented on the National Human Rights Council; any person qualified
to attend the work of the commission in an advisory capacity. At
the same time, the CNDH also acts as an election observation body.
33. The elections were organised in 92 electoral constituencies,
via 3 884 offices and 43 314 polling stations. Each polling station
was managed by a president and three members of the Board, the youngest being
the secretary.
34. Any Moroccan citizen over 18 years of age has the right to
vote, on condition that he or she has full civil and political rights
and does not present any of the disqualifying criteria provided
for in the law. Morocco has an active registration system, according
to which a citizen should register to the competent authorities
to exercise his/her right to vote.
35. One special feature of the 2021 elections is that they coincided
with the holding of municipal and regional elections that are scheduled
every six years. The aim was to ensure a higher turnout, given that
the municipal elections have always recorded higher levels of voting
than the legislative elections.
36. In 2016, the turnout was 43%, namely 6.8 million of the 15.7
million people entitled to vote. Exceeding this figure therefore
constituted a challenge. In June 2021, the Ministry of the Interior
reopened the voter registration process and gave the possibility
to register or to re-register to change address. The statistics
of the electoral roll as of 30 July 2021 showed an increase of 2 280 898
voters in 5 years, namely 14.5% compared to the lists drawn up for
the 2016 parliamentary elections. A total of 17 983 490 people were
registered.
37. A large proportion of new registrants were young people aged
18 to 24, most of whom were voting for the first time, representing
8% of the total number of registered voters. In terms of gender
distribution, 46% of voters on the voters’ list were women and 54%
men, while 46% of registered voters were from rural areas and 54%
from urban areas. In terms of age segmentation, 23% of the registered
voters were 60 years and older, while 9% were between 55 and 59
years old and 20% between 45 and 54 years old. Registered voters
aged 35-44 represented 21% compared to 19% for the 25-34 age group
and the above-mentioned 8% for the 18-24 age group.
38. Nonetheless, the number of registered voters remained relatively
low. The pyramid of voters indicates an under-representation of
young people aged 18-24 as compared to the forecast of 17% by the
High Commission for Planning, which means that around 2 800 000
were not included in the lists. At least 7 million Moroccans with
the right to vote, in addition to those living abroad, remain missing
from incomplete electoral lists due to the method of compilation,
which is reliant on citizens’ voluntary registration
Note. In fact, Moroccan citizens
who meet all the legal requirements but are not yet registered on
the general electoral registers must submit their applications to
register directly with the offices of the local administrative authorities
closest to them or via the website on general electoral registers.
The same also applies to voters who have changed address, who must
re-register on the general registers.
39. The electoral census issue has traditionally been very controversial
in Morocco. For decades, there has been a great discrepancy between
the figures for the population of voting age and the electoral registers. Several
political parties have called for an automatic registration system
but the government has opposed this on technical grounds. An actual
electoral census would further highlight the disaffection with politics
among a large section of the population, especially the young.
40. Over the years, the Moroccan authorities have made substantial
efforts into curbing fraud in the electoral procedures. One of the
measures taken is to allow voting only in polling stations; there
is no mobile ballot box to reach those who are unable to come to
the designated polling stations. This however means that people
with limited mobility are deprived of their right to vote. It is
equally regrettable that, according to the Electoral Code, various
categories of citizens such as the military, law enforcement agents,
naturalised Moroccans of less than 5 years or detainees in pre-trial
detention are excluded from the electoral process.
41. Moroccan citizens living abroad may apply to register. Those
concerned must submit their applications to the relevant administrative
board or Moroccan embassies or consulates in their place of residence,
or via the specially dedicated website (listeselectorales.ma). According
to the High Commission for Planning
Note,
more than 5 million Moroccans are living abroad. Those who register
can either to travel to Morocco and cast their vote personally or
use a proxy vote. This system is considered insufficient by associations
of Moroccans living abroad, who denounce the
de
facto exclusion of millions of voters. The Assembly has
also consistently asked to improve the representation of Moroccans
living abroad in the parliament and to facilitate their participation in
elections, notably by opening polling stations abroad in the areas
where considerable communities of Moroccans reside. The turnout
of citizens living abroad remains low and a change in the legislation
concerning their voting system should definitely be considered.
The Minister of the Interior has pointed to “logistical difficulties
and diplomatic constraints” that would prevent the organisation
of polling stations in the countries of residence of Moroccans living
abroad.
42. Altogether, 31 political parties registered for the 2021 parliamentary
elections, submitting a total of 1 704 lists, of which 1 472 were
local lists with 5 046 candidates, including 120 persons with disabilities.
Lists of regional constituencies reached 232 containing 1 769 candidates,
which is 20 candidates on average for each seat. 206 representatives
(out of the 395) were standing for re-election.
43. A total of 2 329 women candidates were registered, namely
34.17%. Of these, 1 567 were included in the regional lists, which
are one of the new features of this election. Only 762 women candidates
were included in the local legislative constituencies. Of the 1 704
lists, 97 had a woman as head of list: 90 of whom were on the regional
lists, which are reserved for women according to the new law, and
only 7 by the free choice of the party to promote a woman as head
of list.
44. The CNDH in its communiqué on 9 September 2021 underscores
that “the data on the participation of women in the three elections
confirms a persistent gap between the development of the legal system
and mindsets in society”. While legal mechanisms reinforced women’s
participation in political life (through the allocation of regional
lists to women in parliamentary elections, the creation of lists
for women and supplementary seats in communes where uninominal suffrage
is applied), the impact of law on women’s political empowerment
by improving their status in society appears limited and slow. This
is evidenced by the weakness of women’s nominations outside the
regional lists designated exclusively for women. The CNDH also expresses
its deep concern on the unprecedented event concerning the images
of women which were blocked on election posters: “faceless candidates”.
Note
5 Election campaign,
financing and media coverage
45. The electoral campaign, which
ran from 26 August to the day prior to the ballot, took place in
an atypical atmosphere affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and its
fallout. During the two weeks it lasted, the country was subjected
to a nocturnal curfew beginning at 9pm, at a time when daily infections
and deaths reached unprecedented numbers, exceeding 10 000 and 150,
respectively.
46. The CNDH found that the government’s decision to extend the
state of health emergency until 10 September 2021 was justified
and met the requirement of necessity. In terms of content, the restrictions were
“legally founded” and fell “under the realm of the powers legally
assigned to the Government to manage the state of health emergency”.
Note
47. Regarding the legal aspects of the election campaign, the
most problematic aspects are the prohibition on campaigning in a
place of worship and compliance with the duty of neutrality of public
servants and agents of administrations. On 15 August 2021, the minister
of Religious Endowments and Islamic Affairs issued a communiqué
calling on all imams and preachers in the country to remain neutral,
and warning that religious rectors who did not would be removed
from their administrative duties. This request was also addressed
to the delegates and representatives of the ministry.
48. Offences and penalties committed during the election campaign
fall under the jurisdiction of the criminal courts and do not give
rise to the annulment of the elections, without prejudice to the
possibility of contesting the result in the electoral dispute before
the Constitutional Court, which may declare the ballot vitiated
by fraudulent manoeuvres.
49. According to the legislation it is forbidden to carry out
and publish opinion polls directly or indirectly related to the
elections during the period from the fifteenth day before the date
set for the start of the campaign until the end of the voting operations.
50. The electoral contest was low-key and lacked both intensity
and clear-cut polarisation on policy choices. Pandemic-related issues,
mutual accusations of excessive campaign financing and the future
implementation of the new development programme were at the heart
of the discussions; whereas many interlocutors regretted that wider
societal issues and the acute socio-economic problems, as well as
the problems in the health and education sectors, were largely left
out of the debates, which contributed even more to the limited importance attached
to these elections by the public.
51. In the context of the third wave of Covid-19, political parties
were obliged to adjust their strategies, to resort to digital techniques
(videoconferences, hybrid meetings, debates on social media platforms...),
to limit conventional meetings to a minimum and to scrupulously
observe the restrictions in force during the pandemic. Large-scale
political rallies were not allowed, and gatherings of more than
25 people were prohibited.
52. Additional measures were adopted at regional level. For instance,
in some regions it was forbidden to distribute leaflets. These instructions
were not fully respected, several large gatherings were organised,
and leaflets littered the streets of in the cities visited, before
and sometimes even on the election day.
53. Consequently, with very few exceptions, the electoral campaign
shifted online. This was by no means an innovation, because in earlier
elections virtual campaigns had already played a fundamental role
among urban populations, which include the greatest consumers of
new technology. Moreover, the most important social debates that
have taken place in Morocco in the last decade, have migrated to
social media platforms.
54. As soon as the election campaign got under way, social media
were rapidly inundated by party political adverts and candidates’
photos. According to media experts, most political parties’ virtual
campaigns used outdated tools and formats exhibiting little creativity
almost indistinguishable from campaigns in the street. The RNI’s
campaign was the most creative, and it was run by professionals.
Reportedly, RNI spent around 200 000 USD in adverts on social media,
mainly Facebook, some 10 times more than its competitors. The Istiqlal
spent around 20 000 USD. Other parties like PAM and PJD spent relatively
little on social media advertising. PJD has consistently been using
social media channels for several years and has a solid basis on
social media, so it did not need to spend very much on further advertising.
Meanwhile, the online realm enabled the few political voices calling
for a boycott, the leftist An-nahj Ad-dimuqrati party and the Justice
and Spirituality Islamist association, to run their own campaign
unmolested by the authorities.
55. Some interlocutors of the Assembly expressed concern over
the lack of accessibility of the online campaign to certain categories
of the population. According to the Digital 2021,
Note 69%
of the Moroccan population has access to internet and 49% is a social
network’s user. However, according to the Arab barometer
Note only
55% of inhabitants of rural areas have access to the Internet, compared
to 76% of urban areas and only 16% of people aged 60 years and older
use the Internet. The political parties were therefore obliged to
take a more in-person approach to the rural population and more
marginalised districts. It was in these areas that the majority
of complaints about the widespread use of money to secure votes
were recorded, lodged particularly by the PJD, the Party of Progress
and Socialism (PPS) and the Unified Socialist Party (PSU).
56. During meetings with NGOs and media representatives, the ad
hoc committee's interlocutors reported several concerns, in particular:
- low number of women in the local
constituency lists and those present in very secondary positions
or difficult electoral districts;
- lack of transparency in the preparation/choice of the
party lists;
- allegations of a lack of transparency in campaign financing;
- allegations of vote buying by payment of school fees or
school equipment;
- cases of corruption among civil servants, not properly
addressed by the political parties.
57. On 9 September 2021, the CNDH reported their observations
on the electoral campaign, noting several other negative aspects
or infringements, such as
- cases
of physical and verbal violence new forms of discrimination against
women by blocking their images from the electoral lists;
- low participation of persons with disabilities in electoral
campaigns and the degree to which their right to run for elections
was respected;
- the limited participation of Moroccans living abroad;
- lack of compliance with precautionary sanitary measures
by parties and candidates;
- lack of respect of personal data;
- allegations regarding impartiality of the authorities
and religious attendants and the exploitation of places of worship;
- difficulties that the observers faced while carrying out
their duties.Note
58. The ad hoc committee considers that it is up to the relevant
Moroccan judicial bodies to take appropriate legal measures in order
to address the concerns identified.
59. The financing of election campaigns in Morocco is governed
by legal texts, notably the rules on the financing of the campaign
can be found in Article 93 of the Organic Law on the House of Representatives.
The expenditure ceiling is set by decree adopted on the proposal
of the government authorities responsible for the interior, justice
and finance.
60. The State set aside 360 million dirhams to finance the three
election campaigns (160 million dirhams – approximately 15 million
Euros – just for the electoral campaign of the House of Representatives).
State funding is not the only source of funding. Parties can draw
financial resources from membership fees, private donations, legacies
and gifts that they are authorised to receive, provided that they
do not exceed 600 000 dirhams (approximately 57 000 Euros) per year
per donor.
61. Each candidate representative must draw up the account of
his or her electoral campaign in accordance with a model fixed by
regulation. The said account includes a detailed statement of the
sources of financing of his electoral campaign and a statement of
his electoral expenses. The interested party must attach to this statement
the documents justifying the said expenses. The campaign account
must be filed with the Court of Audit within thirty days.
62. The Court of Audit examines the campaign accounts of the candidates.
The First President of the Court of Audit shall give formal notice
to any candidate list representative or candidate concerned, as
the case may be, to produce the required documents within thirty
days of the date of the formal notice. The result of this examination
is recorded in a report. The report shall mention the names of the
candidates who have not filed accounts; nor indicated the sources
of financing; nor justified their election expenses; nor attached
the required supporting documents to the statement of their election
expenses; or who have exceeded the ceiling set for election expenses.
63. Failure by any candidate's list representative or candidate,
to submit an election campaign account within the time limits and
in the manner provided for by law results in ineligibility for general
and partial parliamentary elections and for general and partial
elections to local authority councils and professional chambers
for two successive terms.
64. It is not the mandate of the ad hoc committee to look in-depth
into the campaign financing issues. However, several interlocutors
mentioned the mutual accusations by party leaders of massive use
of money to buy candidates and votes. The ad hoc committee feels
that the oversight mechanisms of campaign financing should be improved,
in particular, the body in charge of the control of electoral accounting
(the Court of Auditors) should have effective investigation tools
to be able to verify all the allegations regarding illegal electoral
expenses.
65. The public audio-visual media guarantees to all political
parties participating in the elections fair and regular airtime,
as well as identical programming conditions in the framework of
the programmes devoted to the electoral campaign. The principle
of fairness in the distribution and order of airtime devoted to
the parties is based on the representation of these parties in the
two chambers of parliament. The specific conditions are established
by a decree issued on the proposal of the government authorities
responsible for the interior, justice and communication.
66. Access to public media for the political parties is regulated
on the basis of 50% of the time equally distributed among the parties
which already have a parliamentary group (meaning at least 20 seats),
30% to the parties which have already seats at the parliament and
the remaining 20% to be distributed among the parties not represented
in the parliament.
67. Provisions against illegal content in programmes during the
electoral period, as well as in programmes prepared for the electoral
campaign, is provided for in Article 118 of Law 57-11. This includes,
the prohibition of the use of national emblems, the national anthem,
places of worship, official seats and commercial brands.
68. The High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HACA) ensures
compliance with the provisions of the law in accordance with the
powers vested in it by the legislation in force. The ad hoc committee
had an interesting meeting with representatives of its High Council.
HACA is an autonomous State institution which oversees the respect
of pluralism, balanced access to media during the election period,
including women’s participation in electoral debates (minimum 30%
of the airtime) and respect for cultural and linguistic diversity. HACA
informed the ad hoc committee that efforts were constantly made
to debunk fake news spread on traditional audiovisual media. HACA
underlined that there was currently no legislation in Morocco on
the control of the content on social media and it has therefore
limited responsibility, if any, to exercise this control.
6 Election day
69. On the Election Day, the Assembly
delegation was divided into 7 different teams observing in Rabat, Casablanca,
Fez and Marrakesh. All in all, the teams visited 100 polling stations,
mostly in urban areas.
70. The ad hoc committee members' assessment of the conduct of
voting, including vote-counting, was very positive. The voting in
the polling stations observed was overall very well organised, the
members of polling stations were in most cases very co-operative
with our observers, and the voting process was transparent.
71. The only major problem faced during the election day, was
that some teams experienced a reluctance in accepting the presence
of observers during the counting process. One team was clearly expelled,
and the presence of another team was only tolerated after a long
discussion and some negotiations on the phone. The issue of the
presence of international observers and how to deal with them is
perhaps not sufficiently dealt with in the trainings provided.
72. Certain shortcomings and/or incompliances were observed by
the ad hoc committee members in the polling stations visited:
- a number of polling stations
were not accessible for people with physical disabilities; in particular
in the large polling stations located in schools where classrooms
on higher floors, mainly without lifts, are used as polling stations;
- in some cases they noted over-crowding in polling stations,
mostly because of the large number of party-partisan observers in
the small premises and towards the end of the day there were queues
which sometimes made it difficult to respect social distance;
- there were few women among polling station officials.
Only a very small number of the polling station teams were led by
a woman. Women were mainly playing the role of vice-presidents or
were altogether absent.
73. As has been the case in previous elections, NGOs and observer
organisations informed the ad hoc committee of some allegations
of cases of massive vote buying, controlled voting, and voter intimidation.
One team of the Assembly indeed witnessed a concrete case of an
attempt at vote buying in Rabat.
74. The Assembly observer teams noted the very low rate of participation
in urban areas, especially in Casablanca where by the end of the
day in some places only about 10% of the registered voters had voted.
75. According to the final results issued by the Ministry of Interior,
the voter turnout was 50.18%, which is seven points up compared
to the previous parliamentary elections in 2016 (43%). However,
it should be considered that municipal and regional elections were
held at the same date and the latter usually attract more people
to the polls. In addition, this figure reflects only half of the
people registered on the voters’ list and not the overall number
of people eligible to vote.
76. Regrettably there is a chronic delay in publishing the results
broken down by party. At the time of writing this document, the
total votes received by the parties at national level, the number
of abstentions per constituency and the spoilt ballots at the various
levels remain unknown. The ad hoc committee considers that such
a situation does nothing to reinforce citizens’ trust in a democratic
electoral process.
77. Similarly to previous elections, these elections were monitored
by 70 observers belonging to 17 international organisations and
a total of 7 120 national observers: 4 500 accredited by the CNDH
and 2 620 by a network of 23 associations.
78. All of the observers highlighted the example set by Morocco
in terms of the peaceful handover of power, respecting the verdict
of the ballot box. On the day following the elections, the PJD announced
the resignation of the incumbent head of government and its secretary
general.
79. The following parties won seats in the House of Representatives:
|
PARTY
|
Seats 2021
|
Seats 2016
|
Difference
|
|
RNI
|
102
|
37
|
+ 65
|
|
PAM
|
87
|
102
|
- 15
|
|
ISTIQLAL
|
81
|
46
|
+ 35
|
|
USFP
|
34
|
20
|
+ 14
|
|
MP
|
28
|
27
|
+ 1
|
|
PPS
|
22
|
12
|
+ 10
|
|
UC
|
18
|
19
|
- 1
|
|
PJD
|
13
|
125
|
- 112
|
|
MDS
|
5
|
2
|
+ 3
|
|
FFD
|
3
|
0
|
+ 3
|
|
FGD
|
1
|
2
|
- 1
|
|
PSU
|
1
|
|
+ 1
|
80. The number of elected women
is 96 or 24,3% of the total seats (up from 81 or 21%, in the previous composition)
of which only 6 were elected in local constituencies. Among these
6 women MPs, 4 belong to PAM and another two represent the PPS and
Istiqlal.
81. As anticipated by many analysts, the RNI emerged as the clear
winner in the threefold elections, winning 102 seats in the parliament,
a spectacular increase from the 37 obtained in 2016. PAM were in
second place with 87 seats (102 in 2016), Itsiqlal finished third
with 81 seats (46 in 2016) and UFSP (Party of the Union of the Socialist
Popular Forces) is the fourth party with 34 seats (20 in 2016).
82. The ruling party PJD lost roughly 90% of its seats, plummeting
from 125 seats in 2016 down to 13 in 2021. Several factors are considered
to have contributed to this defeat: the change in the electoral
legislation and the introduction of a higher quotient had an impact.
In addition, PJD had been forced to pursue unpopular policies, especially
in regard to temporary employment contracts, the suppression of
the Compensation Fund, the rise in the retirement age and the wage
cuts that led to a fall in the purchasing power of wide swathes
of the population. Furthermore, its record in charge of the town
halls of the country’s largest cities (Casablanca, Fez, Tangier,
Kenitra and Agadir) was controversial and patchy. Finally, its support
to the Abraham accords, promoted by the Trump Administration, and
the consequent new impetus to the relations with Israel, in exchange
for American support for the territorial integrity of Morocco, might
have alienated part of the PJD electoral base, supporting the Palestinian
cause. All these factors might have prompted some of the PJD supporters
to abstain from voting in 2021.
83. On 10 September, King Mohamed VI appointed, according to the
Constitution, Mr Akhannouch, the billionaire leader of the RNI and
former Minister of Agriculture, to form a new government. The latter immediately
entered into talks with other parties and, after a month of negotiations,
formed a new government with the liberal PAM and the conservative
Istiqlal parties. The three parties command a comfortable majority
of 270 seats (198 are needed to pass legislation). On 7 October,
the day before the opening of the new parliament, the King named
the new government, which now comprises seven women ministers. The
new government will lay the foundations for the recently adopted
“new development plan” for Morocco, designed to last until 2035.
This model, commissioned by the royal palace aimed at reducing inequality,
cutting poverty and fostering growth, is likely to form the basis
of the economic programme of the new government.
7 Conclusions and recommendations
84. The Assembly ad hoc committee
for the observation of elections to the Moroccan House of Representatives
concluded that these parliamentary elections were well run, in spite
of the many challenges mentioned above.
85. The ad hoc committee highlights the professionalism of the
responsible State authorities which organised the poll with integrity
and in full transparency. It commends the professionalism and courtesy
of the polling station officials met by the delegation during its
visit. It nevertheless reiterates its long-standing belief that
the creation of an independent central electoral commission should
be considered as a useful tool to solve some of the existing problems
concerning participation and the organisation of elections, including
the inclusion of young people aged 18-24 in the voters register.
86. The ad hoc committee welcomes the efforts made by various
stakeholders to boost voter activity and welcomes to this end the
increased voter turnout of over 50%. It acknowledges that the choice
of making voters decide on the political architecture of the country
at different levels in one go, served the desired goal. However, it
notes that this figure only refers to registered voters and not
citizens having the right to vote. It therefore encourages the State
authorities to work towards introducing an automatic easy-to-update
voter register that would include all citizens eligible to vote
and to develop large-scale awareness raising and voter education campaigns.
Besides enhancing the trust of the population in elected institutions
and increasing the voter turnout, especially among young people,
the ad hoc committee recommends introducing, in line with Council of
Europe standards, permanent civil participation mechanism to increase
active engagement of citizens into political decision making at
all levels.
87. The ad hoc committee notes with satisfaction the efforts by
the Moroccan authorities to include more women in politics. To this
end, it welcomes the introduction of the new regional list, which
paved the way to greater representation of women in the parliament.
It regrets, however, that regardless of the increased number of
women in the parliament, the impact of law on women’s political
empowerment has yet to translate into wider political realities
and calls on State authorities at all level of governance and political
parties to work on improving women’s status in society. In order
to bridge the gap between the favourable legal framework and the
mindset of the society, the ad hoc committee recommends enhancing
civil participation, in particular of women, and between the election
periods, in co-operation with Council of Europe programmes.
88. The ad hoc committee notes that the amendments to the electoral
legislation were adopted late, only a few months before the launch
of the official campaign, which is not in line with the Council
of Europe’s recommendations on electoral practice. It encourages
the new authorities to continue improving election-related legislation
from the beginning of its mandate. There is definitely a need for
a new redistricting of local constituencies that would reflect better
the changes in the demographic distribution of the country. The
newly elected parliament should also define a proper legal framework
to improve the transparency of campaign financing.
89. The ad hoc Committee considers that the legal framework should
be improved to allow better representation in the parliament of
Moroccans living abroad and increase their participation in elections.
The right to vote remains denied to several categories of the Moroccan
population, including the police, the military, people in hospitals
or in pre-trial detention. Further legal improvements are needed
to ensure the right to vote of all citizens.
90. The ad hoc committee invites the Moroccan authorities to carry
out an in-depth analysis of the organisation of these elections.
The ad hoc committee is convinced that this work should be carried
out in close co-operation with the Council of Europe Venice Commission,
of which Morocco is a member, with a view to improving the country's
electoral legislation as well as certain practical aspects of the
organisation of voting and, more generally, the entire electoral
process before the next elections are held.
91. The ad hoc committee invites the newly elected parliament
to reinforce co-operation with the Assembly within the framework
of
Resolution 1818 (2011) on partner for democracy status.
Appendix 1 – Composition of the ad hoc
committee
Based on the proposals by the political groups
of the Assembly, the ad hoc committee was composed as follows:
Chairperson: Mr Alberto RIBOLLA,
Italy, EC/DA
Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group
(SOC)
- Ms Jette CHRISTENSEN,
Norway
- Mr Christophe LACROIX, Belgium
- Mr Antonio GUTIÉRREZ LIMONES, Spain
Group of the European People’s Party (EPP/CD)
- Mr Viorel-Riceard BADEA,
Romania
- Mr Raivo TAMM, Estonia
- Mr Jacek PROTASIEWICZ, Poland
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for
Europe (ALDE)
- Mr Damien COTTIER, Switzerland
- Ms Nicole DURANTON, France
European Conservatives Group and Democratic
Alliance (EC/DA)
- Mr Alberto RIBOLLA,
Italy
- Ms Olena KHOMENKO, Ukraine
Group of the Unified European Left (UEL)
- Mr Anton GOMEZ-REINO,
Spain
Venice Commission
- Mr Óscar SANCHEZ MUÑOZ,
Expert, Spain
Secretariat
- Ms Ivi-Triin ODRATS,
Administrative Officer, Election observation and Interparliamentary
co-operation Division
- Mr Alessandro MANCINI, Programme Manager, Parliamentary
Projects Support Division
Appendix 2 – Programme Morocco – 6-9 September
2021
Monday 6 September 2021
8.30 – 9.30 Meeting of the ad hoc committee:
- Opening of the meeting and presentation
of the mission: Mr Alberto Ribolla, Chairperson of the Delegation
- Background and political situation:
Mr Michael Ingledow, Head of the Council of Europe office in Rabat,
and Ms Grazia-Alessandra Siino, Project Manager, Cooperation project
between the Assembly and Morocco
- Electoral legislation: Mr Oscar
Sanchez Muñoz, Venice Commission
- Practical and logistical arrangements:
Secretariat
9.30 – 11.00 Meeting with representatives of the diplomatic
community
11.00 – 12.00 Meeting with media representatives
12.00 – 13.30 Meeting with NGO and civil society representatives
(Session 1)
15.30 -16.30 Meeting with Ms Amina Bouayach, President of
the National Council of Human Rights (CNDH), followed by an information
session on the electoral process
16.45 – 17.45 Meeting with Ms Latifa Akharbach, President
of the High Authority of Audio-visual Communication
18.15 – 19.00 Remote meeting with Mr Allal Amraoui, Chairperson
of the Moroccan partner for democracy delegation to the Assembly
Tuesday 7 September 2021
9.30 – 11.00 Meeting with Mr Hassan Agman, Director
of the Election Department, Ministry of the Interior
11.30 – 12.30 Meeting with NGO and civil society representatives
(Session 2)
12.30 – 13.30 Observation of the vote, practical and logistical
issues / Meetings with the drivers and interpreters for the teams
from the ad hoc committee
14.30 Pre-deployment of teams to Casablanca, Fes and Marrakesh
Wednesday 8 September 2021
All day Observation of the opening of polling
stations, the voting, the closing of polling stations, the counting
and recording of results
Thursday 9 September 2021
8.30 Debriefing meeting of the ad hoc committee
12.00 Press conference of the ad hoc committee
Appendix 3 – Statement
Moroccans called to a triple ballot amidst
the Covid pandemic, have risen to important challenges
Rabat 09.09.2021 – The legislative elections held in Morocco
on 8 September alongside the local and regional elections were successfully
run, defying many challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
These elections coincided with marking a decade of fruitful
co-operation between the Moroccan Parliament and the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the Moroccan Parliament
having been the first non-European legislative body to obtain the
status of “Partner for Democracy” with PACE in 2011.
The PACE delegation welcomes the professionalism of the responsible
State authorities and the courtesy of the members of the polling
stations, who helped organise the poll with integrity and transparently.
Holding these complex elections as planned, amid the third wave
of the pandemic, is a testament to Morocco’s commitment to maintaining
openness and to pursuing higher standards of democracy and the rule
of law. The efforts by the State to push for a broader, more inclusive
and more representative participation, merit recognition.
The delegation welcomes the increased voter turnout of over
50%, seven points up compared to the previous parliamentary elections.
However, it notes that this figure only refers to registered voters
and not to the overall number of Moroccan citizens having the right
to vote. Despite the brevity of the official campaign, the main political
players managed to motivate the electorate, which was one of the
major issues at stake in this poll. Further efforts should nevertheless
be made to restore trust in the political system.
Although the campaign was carried out mostly online through
social media, which raised some concern over the accessibility of
the campaign to all categories of the population, the delegation
observed higher mobilisation of voters in rural areas. Some allegations
were made of excessive campaign expenses on social media; the authorities
are therefore encouraged to define a proper legal framework to improve
the transparency of campaign financing. The creation of an independent
Central Electoral Commission could be considered to further facilitate
election administration.
The PACE observers hail the introduction of the new regional
list, which paves the way to higher representation of women in the
parliament. On the other hand, it notes that the amendments to the
electoral legislation were adopted late, only a few months before
the launch of the official campaign, which is not fully in line
with the Council of Europe’s recommendations on electoral practices.
Among remaining concerns are: the introduction of a new electoral
quotient, which may trigger a prejudicial effect on the competitivity
of the different political parties, and the need for a new redisctricting
of local constituencies to better reflect changes in demographic distribution
in the country.
The delegation notes, as it did in 2016, that the procedure
for voting by proxy, aimed at Moroccan citizens living abroad, does
not facilitate the exercise of their constitutional right to vote
and it should be reconsidered. As one of the main contributors to
Morocco’s foreign currency reserves and an important economic actor,
the diaspora could further positively impact voter turnout – and
possibly trigger a broader participation of voters in Morocco.
The PACE observers regret that in some places access to polling
stations is difficult for persons with disabilities. It also regrets
that the exercise of the right to vote remains denied to several
categories of the Moroccan population, including the police, the
military, people in hospitals or in pre-trial detention. It urges
the Moroccan authorities to make further improvements to ensure
the right to vote of all its citizens.
The delegation encourages the newly elected parliament to
further intensify collaboration with PACE and the Venice Commission
to improve the legal framework and electoral practices in the country,
and to contribute to their implementation.
