The weight of Ceuta on the elections in Morocco

The weight of Ceuta on the elections

It is the twelfth time that legislative elections have been held in Morocco in the modern era of the Kingdom, after the independence obtained in 1956. The electoral campaign was very heated, marked by the crisis in Ceuta: between 29 and 30 July, 72 thousand people - mostly young migrants - crossed the border of the Spanish exclave. Between the different death tolls and the backlash of accusations, Morocco has not yet responded to European criticism with its version. All this has fueled a climate of disappointment in the country. Also because, after the "GenZ 212" protests - which a year ago had filled the streets with slogans against corruption, for public health and against unemployment - most of the demonstrators were arrested and have not yet been released from prison.

The unknown turnout

Strong doubts remain, therefore, about voter turnout. There are 15,801,162 voters registered on the lists, out of an electoral body of 26 million. Men represent 54% of voters, women 46%. Young people are precisely missing from the call, as they said they were disillusioned and not very interested in voting: voters aged 60 or over represent 29% of registered voters, while 25-34 year olds make up 15% and young people aged between 18 and 24 represent 4% of the electorate. In 2021 just over 50% of registered voters went to vote.

The candidates

There are more than 7,200 candidates for Parliament in this election round: they are running for 395 seats. In total, 1,850 lists of candidates were presented at national level, grouping 7,288 candidates, with an average of over 18 candidates per seat. And there are 227 outgoing parliamentarians who have chosen to run again.

The parties

There are 27 parties in the running. With unemployment at 10.8%, jobs are one of the common promises of electoral programs. The Rni, with a dove as its symbol, had a majority in the last electoral round and is once again proposing the promise of one million jobs which it failed to keep in the last legislature. Even the WFP, with the symbol of the tractor, is relaunching one million new jobs to be created in the next 4 years. Same promise present in the program of the PPS, the most left-wing party in Morocco. The proposal of the USFP, the pink socialists, is instead for 250 thousand jobs in industries, with the aim of reducing unemployment below 8%. The Pjd, the pro-Islamists of the Lamp, are aiming for the vote of future teachers and propose removing the age limit of 35 for public competitions. In recent weeks the electoral campaign has been shaken by a pirated audio, attributed to the outgoing president of the Chamber Rachid Talbi Alami (Rni), in which the "division of seats" is discussed.