NAIROBI
Polling stations opened across Morocco on Wednesday morning as voters began casting ballots to elect members of the country’s House of Representatives.
Voting began at 8 am (0800GMT) and is set to close at 7 pm (1900GMT) across the country, according to Moroccan officials.
Some 15.8 million voters are registered for the elections, according to official figures. Twenty-eight political formations are competing for the 395 seats, with 7,288 candidacies registered nationwide.
Anadolu’s correspondent reported that a number of observers were deployed in the capital Rabat and other cities to monitor the electoral process.
The observers document any potential irregularities during voting and counting without interfering in the process, and prepare reports based on their observations.
The Special Committee for the Accreditation of Election Observers, an official body, previously announced that it had accredited 3,206 observers, including 200 from outside the country, to monitor the elections.
In a statement, the committee said it had accredited about 3,006 observers representing 26 nongovernmental associations and a national institution.
It said 783 of them are observers from the National Human Rights Council, while 2,023 observers represent Moroccan civil society associations distributed across the country’s various regions.
It noted that 30 international and regional bodies and diplomatic organizations are participating, represented by about 200 observers from different parts of the world.
The elections are the 12th parliamentary polls held in Morocco since independence and the sixth since King Mohammed VI took the throne in 1999.
The Interior Ministry is expected to announce preliminary results in the early hours of Thursday.
The party that tops the election is expected to begin consultations on forming a governing majority after the results are announced. Forming a government requires a majority of at least 198 seats, which would be difficult for a single party to secure under the proportional representation system.
Under Article 47 of the Constitution, the king appoints the head of government from the political party that tops the House of Representatives elections, while government members are appointed at the proposal of the head of government.
The next government will face several political, economic, and social issues, including projects related to co-hosting the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
In the Sept. 8, 2021 elections, the National Rally of Independents party topped the results with 102 seats, followed by the Authenticity and Modernity Party with 86 seats, and the Istiqlal Party with 81 seats.
The current government is headed by Aziz Akhannouch, leader of the National Rally of Independents, in a coalition that includes the Authenticity and Modernity Party and the Istiqlal Party.
