Monarchy |
Government |
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Elections in Morocco are held on a national level for thelegislature.Parliament has twochambers. TheAssembly of Representatives of Morocco (Majlis AL-Nuwab/Assemblée des Répresentants) has 325 members elected for a five-year term, 295 elected in multi-seatconstituencies and 30 in national lists consisting only of women. TheAssembly of Councillors (Majlis al-Mustasharin) has 120 members, elected for a six-year term, elected by local councils (162 seats), professional chambers (91 seats) and wage-earners (27 seats).
Morocco has had amulti-party system since independence in 1955, with numerousparties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, andparties must work with each other to formcoalition governments. Since Morocco considersWestern Sahara as part of its territory and administers large parts of it, the elections are also held there.
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front for the Defence of Constitutional Institutions | 1,159,932 | 34.78 | 69 | |
| Istiqlal Party | 1,000,506 | 30.00 | 41 | |
| National Union of Popular Forces | 751,056 | 22.52 | 28 | |
| Moroccan Communist Party | 2,345 | 0.07 | 0 | |
| Independents | 421,479 | 12.64 | 6 | |
| Total | 3,335,318 | 100.00 | 144 | |
In October 2006, as many as 67 people were arrested forelection fraud allegations related to the September 8, 2006 polls.[1] Among them there were 17 lawmakers (12 from the Assembly of Councillors and 5 from the Assembly of Representatives). It was the first time the Moroccan government made such arrests.