Reconsidering the law governing parties

The clamor of the electoral campaign that lasted for 12 days and in which 30 parties were competing for 27,795 seats is finally over. If one reflects on the outcome of these elections, one will draw a set of data, some of which can be presented as follows:

1- These elections confirmed that the typical approach in Morocco is a strategic choice, aimed at the inauguration of a new type of development by opening up to all the community’s energies. Moroccan voters reacted positively towards affirmative action for women, which led to the election of 3,406 female advisers for a ratio of 12,3%, instead of 127 advisers in the elections of 2003.

2- The 2009 elections confirmed a significant respect for logic, as the party that introduced the largest number of candidates – the Party of Authenticity and Modernity – won the largest number of seats. This party had adopted a new communicative speech based on realism, and which proposes a participatory approach as a mechanism to solve problems. The party’s leadership organised communicative meetings in remote areas that other parties’ leaders do not usually reach, such as the Ketama region in which the authorities have been trying for years to eliminate the cultivation of cannabis, and replace it with alternative crops. The Party of Authenticity and Modernity won 16 seats out of 25 in this region, which confirms the effectiveness of the communicative policy which it applied, and which enabled it to win 6,015 seats representing 21.7% of total seats.

3- The dramatic decline of left-wing parties, as some leaders couldn’t win a seat in the constituencies where they took their win for granted. Even left alliances did not have any impact on the results, and couldn’t confirm the roots of the left-wing thought in Morocco. The passage of the Socialist Union, and the Party of Progress and Socialism in the government, and their tenacity to stay in the framework of the alliance bloc, influenced the results of the left negatively and made it lose the credibility it had enjoyed in the past. It is therefore necessary for the left to re-examine many things, related both to the speech, and dealing realistically with the changes that are taking place in the Moroccan society.

4- The return of most of the heads of major city councils to the forefront, through their obviously easy win in the elections, which means that the battle for the presidential elections that will be held 15 days after the date of the ballot will surely have an impact on party alliances, especially that the Party of Authenticity and Modernity, that won first place, had joined the opposition prior to the elections.

5- The need to reconsider the law governing political parties, as the local elections have included 30 parties, some of which could not easily submit their lists, and others are not known until the elections period, which makes their presence a modest one on the political scene. This was reflected on the results, since eight parties received less than 1% of votes, thus making them virtually unable to have any influence.

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Anonymous About over 2 years ago

Good evening, I do not understand yet the use of the parties’ law if Morocco has about 30 parties so far. I also do not know if the multi-party system that exists actually reflects the reality of democracy that people aspire to. Can’t we talk about the search for mechanisms that allow controlling the partisan scene in Morocco? What is certain is that the parties which had obtained low rates will be lost within the municipal councils, and would not even be noticed, and this will increase the weakness of all political parties, and result in repugnance towards political life.

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Anonymous About over 2 years ago

Hello dear professor. I found this website by coincidence, and was very pleased to find your article here. Nostalgia took me back to the old days when I was your student, and you used to repeat consistently that progress can be achieved only by relying on reason. I remember that you always repeated that law alone cannot change reality. You would wonder why I am repeating your words now, it’s simply because you called on to reconsider the law governing political parties. So do you think, Sir, that the law governing parties in Morocco is capable alone of controlling the partisan scene if there is no genuine will from the parties?

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Anonymous About over 2 years ago

Zineb: Peace be upon you, dear Professor. After the electoral campaign and polling day, here come the final results of the local elections that came up with surprises and expectations. Giving women a 12% share of seats made them get 3406 advisers at the national level, which is a positive thing in itself. As for the second point that you mentioned, about the Authenticity and Modernity party that won the largest number of seats, I believe that this party was able to earn this victory despite being new, because most members belonging to this party come from other long-standing parties. Therefore, I do not think that adopting a communicative speech based on realism, and presenting a large number of candidates were the reasons behind the party’s success, as much as voting and success were directed towards the candidate himself and not towards the party to which he belongs. As for the Left, its former passage in the government without achieving its expectations made it lose some of its credibility somewhat. With regard to the law governing the elections, I agree with you that it should be reviewed, as the number of parties in Morocco has multiplied and must be reconsidered. In addition to that, there is the lack of participation in these elections in major cities such as Casablanca (30%), and the communication of the parties with the inhabitants of the countryside and villages, i.e. their exploitation of the vulnerable groups in particular; all of this only serves the parties’ own interests.

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