Moroccan diaspora’s representation in Parliament has to date not been high on the government’s agenda throughout various electoral reforms. Granting Moroccans Living Abroad (MLA) the right to vote tend to become a highly topical issue as elections approach.
This has even become an institutional issue following the adoption of the new Constitution in 2011. Indeed, article 17 of the Constitution provides that “the Moroccans residents abroad enjoy the full rights of citizenship, including the right to be voters and candidates to elections at the level of local, regional, and national electoral districts”.
While we were hopeful in the Maan movement about shortcoming government proposals to strengthen the political participation of MLA (particularly in light of the upcoming 2021 elections), we were greatly disappointed by the recently disclosed draft organic law bills aimed at governing the upcoming elections. There was no mention of enhancing the political participation of MLA in the bill draft. Consequently, Maan would like to seize this opportunity to suggest amendments to the organic law 27.11 to enhance MLA’s political participation.
About 6 million Moroccans ( 20% of the total population) live abroad. They are mainly concentrated in Europe (60% of the total diaspora according to various statistics). Their contribution to the economy is significant and their remittances account for 5% of the Moroccan GDP.
According to the provision 22 of the organic law 27.11 (related to the House of Representatives’ election), Moroccans living abroad have the right to stand for election, whether local, national, or even regional (as per the organic bill 04.21 currently being discussed). However, no parliamentary seats or electoral districts are dedicated to Moroccan diaspora. Furthermore, MLA are not allowed to vote in their living country as proxy voting is the only mechanism accepted or they should travel back to Morocco to vote.
In this context, Maan suggests a set of amendments to the organic law 27.11 to be consistent with the right for the Moroccan diaspora to be duly represented.
The proposed amendments are as follows:
1- Amend the article 1 of the organic law – as a first step – to allocate 10% of the local seats to MLA (30 seats out of the 305 dedicated to local lists). Therefore, Maan suggests to maintain the same number of MPs in the House of Representatives (local and regional lists translating into a total of 395 seats) while decreasing the number of seats allocated to Moroccans resident in Morocco from 395 to 365 seats (local and regional lists included);
2- Amend the article 2 by creating two electoral districts dedicated to MLA, of which one for Europe (20 seats) and the second one for the rest of the world (10 seats);
3- Amend the article 22 in order to grant MLA the possibility of running in the districts allocated to them in addition to local and regional districts.
4- Amend the article 72 to allow MLA to vote in their countries of residence (in the Kingdom’s embassies and consulates around the world). Electronic voting could be tested with Moroccan diaspora first, before evaluating and generalizing it in subsequent elections. This experiment could further anchor the democratic exercise of the Moroccan political model.
We believe that these proposals aim at adhering to the principle of equality for all Moroccans, wherever they are, to be involved in policymaking and enhancing their attachment to their homeland. A greater participation of the Moroccan diaspora in Morocco’s political life could only beneficial to the country thanks to the richness and diversity of its profiles that could feed and improve the democratic exercise that the vote represents.
Maan (together), everything is possible.
Maan, Koulchi Moumkin.
