Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat – Morocco’s Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani did not refute the possibility of postponing the country’ municipal and legislative elections due September 8 in the wake of deteriorating epidemiological conditions.
The Head of Government, who is also the acting Secretary General of Morocco’s Justice and Development Party (PJD), fielded questions from journalists at a forum organized by the Moroccan Press Agency (MAP) on August 3. The event was held under the theme of “The 2021 elections: has the time of assessment sounded for the PJD?”
El Othmani explained that while the state of elections, in relation to the country’s epidemiological situation, has not yet been discussed – the Head of Government could not specifically rule out the possibility of postponing them either, according to local media reports.
The speculation coincides with the country’s new preventative measures, which include a more restrictive curfew beginning at 9 p.m., and restricted travels to and from the cities of Agadir, Marrakesh, and Casablanca for the country’s unvaccinated population.
El Othmani also used the forum as an opportunity to refute Morocco’s new electoral quotient calculations, stressing that not only is it designed to limit the number of seats that PJD can receive in the upcoming elections, but that “this decision is [also] anti-democratic and undermines Moroccan democracy.”
The removal of the electoral threshold is a “dangerous problem that will lead to an unprecedented balkanization in the composition of elected councils at local level,” explained El Othmani, adding that it “will undermine democracy and local development.”
The Moroccan general elections are expected to begin in September 2021, COVID-19-related disruptions notwithstanding. The September elections will be the third elections held since 2011 – when Morocco’s King Mohammed VI enacted constitutional reforms expanding the role of the Moroccan parliament.
The PJD currently controls the Moroccan parliament, holding 125 seats in the House of Representatives and 12 seats in the House of Councillors, out of a total 595 seats available. The PJD leads the government coalition with the help of five other parties.
