Parliamentary elections were held for the first time in Morocco on 17 May 1963. They followed the approval of a

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

in a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

the previous year. The result was a victory for the pro-Monarchy

Front for the Defence of Constitutional Institutions The Front for the Defence of Constitutional Institutions ( ar, جبهة الدفاع عن المؤسسات الدستورية, french: Front pour la défense des institutions constitutionnelles, or simply FDIC) was a Moroccan political party fo ...

(FDIC), which won 69 seats. However, the two main opposition parties, the

Istiqlal Party The Istiqlal Party ( ar, حزب الإستقلال, translit=Ḥizb Al-Istiqlāl, lit=Independence Party; french: Parti Istiqlal; zgh, ⴰⴽⴰⴱⴰⵔ ⵏ ⵍⵉⵙⵜⵉⵇⵍⴰⵍ) is a political party in Morocco. It is a conservative and ...

and the

National Union of Popular Forces The National Union of Popular Forces ( ar, الاتحاد الوطني للقوات الشعبية; , UNFP) was founded in 1959 in Morocco by Mehdi Ben Barka and his entourage, because they found that the Istiqlal Party was not radical enough. E ...

, won exactly the same number of seats. Voter turnout was 71.8%. However, in November the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

annulled the results of several seats won by the opposition. By-elections held in January 1964 gave the FDIC control of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

,Ketterer, J
From one chamber to two: The case of Morocco
''Journal of Legislative Studies'', Spring 2001, vol. 7, no. 1, pp.135-150 which was eventually dissolved by King

Hassan II Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scottis ...

in 1965. Indirect elections to the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, ...

were held on 12 October, with the FDIC winning 102 of the 120 seats.

Dolf Sternberger Dolf Sternberger (originally ''Adolf Sternberger''; 28 July 1907 in Wiesbaden – 27 July 1989 in Frankfurt/Main) was a German philosopher and political scientist at the University of Heidelberg. Dolf Sternberger is known for his concept of cit ...

Bernhard Vogel Bernhard Vogel (; born 19 December 1932) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was the 4th Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1976 to 1988 and the 2nd Minister President of Thuringia from 1992 to 2003. ...

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...

& Klaus Landfried (1978) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band II: Afrika, Zweiter Halbband, p1315

Electoral system

The 120 members of the House of Councillors were elected by three electoral colleges; members of provincial and prefectural assemblies elected 80 members, professional bodies elected 35 members (of which industrial workers elected 14, farmers elected 16 and craftsmen elected 5) and business councils elected five.

Results

House of Representatives

House of Councillors

References

{{Moroccan elections

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

1963 in Morocco Elections in Morocco May 1963 events in Africa