The report shows that some parties have returned their debt in time while others still have a financial obligation.
Rabat – According to a report from the court of auditors in Morocco, released on Monday, 17 political parties are late in returning MAD 18.4 million ($1.9 million) to the national treasury, while four political parties out of 34 have not submitted their reports on the audit of their accounts.
The four parties that did not submit their report are the Moroccan Liberal Party, the National Democratic Party, the Moroccan Union Party for Democracy, and the National Union of Popular Forces Party.
The report, led by Driss Jettou, checked the veracity of Moroccan political parties’ expenses in 2017.
The report revealed that 11 parties returned MAD 5.22 million ($541,000) to the national treasury, 6 parties have returned MAD 1.07 million ($110,000) in 2018, while 3 parties returned MAD 2.2 million ($228,000) in 2019.
Read also: 2016 Election: Court of Auditors Asks 18 Parties to Return MAD 6 Million
Although parties’ transactions that are greater than MAD 10,000 ($1,036) must be paid out by checks or a direct transfer as stipulated by Article 40 of Law 29.11, five political parties have paid their dues to the state in cash for MAD 930,000 ($96,000).
In 2017, political parties received MAD 73.73 million ($7.6 million) from the government, compared to MAD 62.74 million ($6.5 million) in 2016 and MAD 61.22 million ($6.3 million) in 2015, according to the report.
The report noted that the Party of Citizen Forces, the Democratic Way Party, and the Party of the Democratic Covenant did not receive public support and self-financed their electoral campaigns.
The expenses of all political parties decreased to MAD 138.43 million ($14 million) in 2017, compared to MAD 417.99 million ($43 million) in 2016 and MAD 372.92 million ($39 million) in 2015.