Islamist party faces test in Moroccan elections

9/4/2015 12:46:11 AM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula)Members of the PJD greet Secretary General Abdelilah Benkirane during a meeting ahead of the municipal elections in Tangier.

IMIDER: Campaigning for today’s local elections Moroccan lawmaker Ahmed Sakdi made sure to hammer home his Islamist party’s anti-corruption message to a few dozen voters listening to his speech in the desert town of Imider.

Turnout may have been meagre but the vote in towns and villages across Morocco will pose an important test for Sakdi’s Justice and Development Party (PJD) which leads Morocco’s governing coalition.

The local elections are the first since King Mohammed put forward a new constitution and devolved some of his powers to stifle protests that erupted in 2011 when three other North African nations — Tunisia Egypt and Libya — all toppled their autocratic rulers.

Voting in villages like Imider will not only highlight the local problems that people want addressed; it may also illustrate the degree of apathy towards a political system still dominated by the PJD and ultimately by the palace. A weak showing by the PJD could be seen as a vote against the legitimacy of the limited reforms introduced by the king leaving Morocco more vulnerable if protests rekindle.

Nearly 30 parties are competing with mostly similar platforms and slogans such as fighting corruption and ending privileges in a contest for more than 30000 local council seats and nearly 700 regional council posts.

“If the people give us the chance to rule we will show them how we have established a complete program to keep reforming and end corruption” Sakdi told the small crowd.

Except for one coalition of three small leftist groups no parties directly challenge the king’s powers. Other leftists and the largest Islamist group harsher in their criticism of the monarchy have been boycotting the political process.

Reuters

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