State Funding for Political Parties’ Election Campaigns Reaches $34 Million in 2021

Rabat – Moroccan political parties benefited from nearly MAD 356 million ($34 million) in state funding in 2021 to support their campaigns for the November 8 legislative elections, a new report from the country’s Court of Accounts shows.

The funding benefited 28 parties, who all had to declare their accounts to the court to verify that the spending was appropriate.

From the amount contributed, MAD 158 million ($15 million) supported campaigns for the House of Representatives, MAD 99.5 million ($9.6 million) was dedicated to municipal elections, and MAD 80 million ($7.7 million) went towards regional council elections.

An additional MAD 19 million ($1.8 million) supported election campaigns for the House of Councillors, the report added, specifying that the funding would help 12 parties and eight union organizations.

The court said 85% of candidates declared their campaign accounts, with the rest receiving a 60 day grace period to supply their documentation.

Morocco’s political parties declared a total of nearly MAD 500 million ($48 million) in resources in 2021, the report noted, which was a significant increase from previous years which did not have election campaigns.

The report concluded that most parties declared accurate and legitimate accounts in 2020, as they were corroborated by independent experts.

The court did however advocate for more efforts in recuperating the financial support that was not spent on elections from parties, while recommending harsher measures in the future against parties that have not returned the money to the state.

The institution also called for more transparency in political parties’ accounting, suggesting the organization of training courses for their administrative staff to promote data sharing between them and better resource management.

The report, based on data from 2021, was characterized by the holding of three nationwide elections, prompting the Court of Accounts to “take several measures to simplify the declaration of accounts for electoral campaigns, political parties, union organizations, and candidates,” the report said.