On 7th October the citizens of Morocco elected a new parliament. Winner is the ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), increasing its number of seats in the House of Representatives by 18 to 125. The main opposition, the secular and royalist Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) increased its presence in parliament by 55 to 102. In third with 46 seats came the Istiqlal party, which presented itself as an “alternative” to the new bipolarity. The National Rally of Independents (RNI) went down from 52 to 37 seats. The Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) saw its representation in the parliament nearly halve, from 39 seats in the previous elections, to 20 seats this time around. The Popular Movement (MP) gained 27 seats, the Constitutional Union (UC) 19, the Party of Progress and Socialism 12 (PPS), the Democratic and Social Movement (MDS) 3 and 1 seat for both the Unity and Democracy Party (PUD) and the Green Left Party (PGV). The Unified Socialist Party (PSU) cooperated with two other parties (PADS and CNI) in the Federation of the Democratic Left and won 2 seats. Voter turnout was with only 43 percent considerably low, even for Moroccan standards. Turnout remained low because of the people’s loss in confidence in Moroccan politics, followed by the failure of parties to make sustainable changes and to translate their promises into true achievements.
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