General elections were held in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

on 7 October 2016. The ruling Justice and Development Party remained the largest party, winning 125 of the 395 seats in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

, a gain of 18 seats compared to the 2011 elections.

Saadeddine Othmani Saadeddine Othmani (; ; born 16 January 1956), sometimes translated as Saad Eddine el-Othmani, is a Moroccan politician. He served as the 16th prime minister of Morocco from 17 March 2017 to 7 October 2021. Previously he served as foreign minist ...

was appointed as prime minister by King Mohammed VI and formed his cabinet on 5 April 2017, including the PJD, the National Rally of Independents (RNI), the Popular Movement (MP), the Constitutional Union (UC), the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS) and the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP).

Background

The elections were announced by the Moroccan government in late January 2016.Morocco to hold parliamentary elections on Oct. 7 -government
Reuters, 28 January 2016 They were the second elections after the constitutional reforms introduced in 2011 by King Mohammed VI in response to the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

. Despite the reforms, most executive powers still lie with the king. The 2011 elections were won by the Justice and Development Party (PJD), which led the government until 2016. The "moderate Islamist" PJD included parties with differing ideologies in its coalition government.Moroccan Islamist Party Wins New Mandate in Elections
Wall Street Journal, 8 October 2016 The incumbent

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

going into the 2016 elections was

Abdelilah Benkirane Abdelilah Benkirane (, born 1954) is a Moroccan politician who was the Prime Minister of Morocco from November 2011 to March 2017. After having won a plurality of seats in the 2011 parliamentary election, his party, the moderate Islamist Justi ...

. The largest opposition party was the pro-monarchy Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM).''The report: Morocco 2009'', Oxford Business Group, p19 PJD and PAM ran an "unusually hostile" campaign. The largest Islamist opposition group, Justice and Spirituality, as well as several left-wing organizations boycotted the election, protesting the monarchy's still considerable executive powers.Moderate Moroccan Islamists win election, coalition talks seen tough
Reuters, 8 October 2016

Electoral system

The 395 seats in the House of Representatives are elected by proportional representation in two tiers: 305 seats are elected from 92

multi-member An electoral or voting system is a set of rules used to determine the results of an election. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections may take place in business, nonprofit organizations and inf ...

constituencies, with the

electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ...

set at 6%, and the remaining 90 seats are elected from a single nationwide constituency with the electoral threshold set at 3%. The nationwide seats are

reserved Reserved is a Polish apparel retailer headquartered in Gdańsk, Poland. It was founded in 1999 and remains the flagship brand of the LPP (company), LPP group, which has more than 2,200 retail stores located in over 38 countries and also owns su ...

, with 60 for women and 30 for people under the age of 40. Under the electoral system no party can win a majority in the parliament, and parties must form a coalition government.

Results

The vote had 43% turnout.Observers: Moroccan election overall fair, but turnout low
Associated Press, 9 October 2016 The Justice and Development Party won the most votes and 125 out of the 395 seats. The Authenticity and Modernity Party won 102 seats, and the rest of the seats were split among smaller parties.

Reactions

Morocco's election observer body said that the voting was largely free and fair. It reported some cases of vote-buying, but said that they were rare and sporadic. It also expressed concern about the relatively low (43%) turnout. Critics also alleged that the royal establishment used its influence to favour the pro-monarchy PAM.

Aftermath

Following the elections, Khalid Adnoun, a spokesman for the second-placed Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), ruled out joining a coalition government, forcing the PJD to partner with multiple smaller parties in order to secure a majority. On 10 October,

Abdelillah Benkirane Abdelilah Benkirane (, born 1954) is a Moroccan politician who was the Prime Minister of Morocco from November 2011 to March 2017. After having won a plurality of seats in the 2011 parliamentary election, his party, the moderate Islamist Justi ...

was reappointed prime minister by King Mohammed VI in accordance with the 2011 constitutional reforms which required the king to appoint a prime minister from the party receiving the most votes.Moroccan king reappoints Abdelilah Bekirane as PM
Al Jazeera, 10 October 2016 However, after

Aziz Akhannouch Aziz Akhannouch (, ; born 16 August 1961) is a Moroccan politician, businessman, and billionaire who is serving as the 17th Prime Minister of Morocco since 7 October 2021. He is the CEO of Akwa Group and also served as Minister of Agriculture fro ...

was elected leader of the National Rally of Independents (RNI), he called for the new coalition to include the Constitutional Union (UC) and the

Socialist Union of Popular Forces The Socialist Union of Popular Forces (; ; , USFP) is a social democratic political party in Morocco. It claims ideas of social justice, modernity and the fight against inequalities. History and profile The USFP was formed as a breakaway from ...

(USFP). This was rejected by Benkirane, leading to a political deadlock as a government was unable to be formed. On 15 March 2017, Benkirane was dismissed by King Mohammed VI, who two days later appointed

in his place to form a government. On 25 March, Othmani announced that the new coalition would consist of the PJD, RNI, UC, USFP, Popular Movement and

Party of Progress and Socialism The Party of Progress and Socialism (; ; , PPS) is a left-wing socialist political party in Morocco. History and profile The party was founded in 1974 by Ali Yata as the successor of Moroccan Communist Party and Party of Liberation and Socia ...

. The members of the cabinet were announced by the King on 5 April, with some key portfolios going to technocrats.Maroc : le roi nomme un gouvernement de technocrates qui marginalise les islamistes
Le Monde, 5 April 2017

References

{{Moroccan elections

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Elections in Morocco

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results