Rabat – Morocco’s provisional commission tasked with exercising the functions of the National Press Council (CNP) announced Wednesday the results of the election for professional journalists and the names of seven newspaper publishers designated to join the new council.
The announcement comes one day after professional journalists across Morocco cast their ballots on Tuesday, September 15, to elect their representatives.
Nearly half of registered journalists cast ballots
A total of 3,421 professional journalists appeared on the final electoral rolls, while 1,681 took part in the vote, resulting in a 49.14% turnout.
The vote produced 1,529 valid ballots, while 152 ballots were declared invalid. The commission reported no contested ballots after it reviewed and consolidated the official voting records
Seven candidates secured seats to represent professional journalists on the new council.
Hanane Rihab received the highest number of votes with 703, followed by Abdellah Bakkali with 481 and Abdelhak El Azimi with 455.
El Kebir Khchichine received 437 votes, while Mounia Archi secured 281. Nadia Hassissou received 257 votes, and Aziza Ghoulam obtained 253
The results followed the commission’s review and validation of the records from polling stations across the North African country.
Approval of seven publishers
The commission also approved seven newspaper publishers to represent the publishers’ category within the new CNP.
The designation took place under Law No. 09.26 on the reorganization of the CNP, Law No. 88.13 on the press and publishing sector, and the commission’s regulatory decision governing the process.
After reviewing the submitted files and documents to verify their compliance with legal requirements, the commission approved the following names:
Bahia Amrani, Souad Mekkaoui, El Mehdi Allabouch, Aziz Daki, Driss Chahtane, Mokhtar Laghzioui, and Khalid El Hariry.
The commission also commended the journalists who took part in the process, as well as the teams responsible for overseeing the vote, including polling station presidents, judicial officers, and other participants.
It said the electoral process took place in accordance with the applicable regulatory framework.
With the election of the journalists’ representatives and the designation of the publishers’ representatives, the process to form the new CNP has reached its latest institutional stage.
The commission said the next steps will focus on the remaining procedures, the official installation of the council’s structures, and the start of its statutory functions.
