Election of the PJD Has no Effect on Morocco’s Rating

Morocco World News with Agencies

New York, November 30, 2011

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said today that the ratings on Morocco (BBB-/Stable/A-3) are not immediately affected by the outcome of the recent parliamentary elections, Reuters reported today.

On Friday November 25, Moroccan voters went to the polls to choose their new representatives in the parliament, after the adoption of the new constitution introduced by King Mohammed VI and overwhelmingly adopted in a referendum held last July.

Parliamentary elections in Morocco are held once every five years. Before Friday’s elections, the last polls were held in September 2007 and resulted in the victory of the Istiqlal party, which formed a coalition government. Friday’s elections were originally planned for September 2012, but were anticipated by almost one year following the adoption of the new constitution in July this years.

This new constitution will further reinforce the Parliament and head of Government’s legislative and executive powers.

With 107 seats in the 395-seat House of Representatives, the Justice and Development Party (PJD) won a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections. This is the first time in Morocco’s history that a political party wins more than a quarter of seats in parliament.

Morocco’s Western allies commend conduct of elections 

The legislative elections are an “important step” in the democratic process of reform in Morocco, said the European Union (EU), in a statement carried by the Maghreb Arab Press.

“Friday’s parliamentary elections are an important step in the on-going process of democratic reform in Morocco initiated by the King to respond to the demands and aspirations of the Moroccan people,” said a co-signed statement by Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, and Stefan Füle, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy.

The United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, expressed her congratulations to the Moroccan people for the success of the Friday Elections.

Clinton said in a statement that “I congratulate the Moroccan people on the successful completion of Friday’s parliamentary elections.”

“The hard work of building democracy does not end when the votes are tallied and the winners announced,” She added.