Rabat – High voter turnout in Morocco’s southern provinces reveals a strong local attachment to the country, according to the Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Omar Hilale.
In letters sent to the UN Secretary-General and to the President and members of the Security Council, Omar Hilale informed the international institution
“I have the honor to inform you that September 8, 2021 was a historic day for Morocco, marked by a successful triple general election day -legislative, communal and regional- throughout the national territory, including in the Moroccan Sahara,” said Ambassador Hilale.
Hilale highlighted the election’s turnout vote, saying “it had reached 50.35%, which is a record compared to previous elections and this, despite the constraints imposed by the pandemic.”
Regarding the southern provinces of Morocco, Omar Hilale noted that “in the Moroccan Sahara, turnout reached 66.94% in the region of Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra and 58.30% in the region of Dakhla-Oued Ed Dahab.”
At the provincial level, the participation rates in the Western Sahara are even more remarkable.
Within the larger region of Dakhla, the province of Aousserd had a turnout rate of 79.64%, while participation was at 54.40% in the province of Oued Ed Dahab.
In the region of Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra, the rate was a record breaking 85.20% in the province of Tarfaya, 67.37% in the province of Es-Smara, 68.65% in the province of Laayoune and 64.10% in the province of Boujdour.
According to Hilale, the population of the Western Sahara has shown, through historic participation in the democratic process, its unwavering commitment to their “Moroccaness,” and their belief in the Moroccan democratic and development model.
The Moroccan diplomat specified that these elections were monitored and observed, independently and neutrally, by 5,020 national and international observers.
These are 4,891 national observers, including 568 observers from the National Council for Human Rights (CNDH), as well as 129 international observers, representing several countries in Africa, Europe, Asia and the Arab world, international and regional organizations, national and international parliaments and non-governmental organizations and civil society.
Morocco’s letter to the Security Council will be published as an official document of this Council and recorded in the annals of the United Nations.
