The two new draft bills will encourage citizens to vote and promote women’s participation in the parliament.
Rabat – Moroccan authorities are considering two bills aiming to better organize the communal, regional, legislative, prefectural, provincial and professional elections and strengthen the Moroccan electoral system, Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit said on Tuesday.
Bill 10.21 aims primarily to establish a permanent and fixed legal framework, determining the modalities for updating the electorate for each communal, regional, legislative, prefectural, provincial and professional election.
The bill provides for a sufficient period of 30 days for the registration of new voters, Laftit explained. It also includes provisions that encourage citizens who obtained their national electronic identity card for the first time, especially young people, to register on the general voters’ list, the minister added.
In response to requests from political parties, the bill proposes to repeal the provision prohibiting the use of some national symbols in the election campaign.
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Regarding Bill No. 11.21, Laftit stressed that the bill aims to ensure the representation of women in chambers of agriculture, commerce and services, as well as chambers of crafts and maritime fishing.
It also takes into account the specificity of the voting system adopted for the election of members of these chambers.
A number of seats will be allocated exclusively to women in the chambers of agriculture.
Regarding the chambers of commerce and services and chambers of crafts and maritime fishing, the bill stipulates the rejection of an electoral list containing 3 consecutive names of candidates of the same sex, providing for situations where compliance with this clause is impossible.
The bill also sets deadlines for exceptional revisions of the electoral lists of the professional chambers and dates for finalizing the lists after revision under a decree.
The Minister of the Interior specified that the draft laws Number 10.21 and 11.21 are procedural and practical in nature and that they do not aim to introduce fundamental changes in Morocco’s electoral system.
He added that they will allow the process of revision of the general and professional electoral lists to begin as soon as possible.
