Elections in Morocco to test Islamist government

Around 15 million Moroccans were expected to vote on Friday in the first local and regional elections to take place since King Mohammed VI conceded some of his powers and brought forth a new constitution in 2011 in order to quell protests. The acceptance of Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane's Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) will be put to the test after achieving limited progress in fighting corruption.

More than 30,000 local council seats and 700 regional council posts are up for grabs in Friday's election, with almost 30 political parties competing for a spot. After less than half of registered voters took part in the 2011 election, voter-turn out in Morocco is being closely observed as an indicator for political transition.

"In a Morocco that is learning to walk along the path of democracy, participation in elections is not a luxury; rather it is the first step along the road to building the future," said "Akhbar al-Yaoum," an independent daily in Morocco, on Thursday.

Benkirane has been credited with bringing the budget deficit down from 7 to less than 5 percent of the GDP. Despite this success, the PJD came to power on an anti-corruption platform in November 2011 and has made limited progress on that issue. The party has also never officially challenged King Mohammed's power as the country's main authority.

While protesters in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya overthrew their autocratic rulers in 2011, King Mohammed stifled protests and remained in power by drafting the new constitution and calling for quick parliamentary elections.

Weak PJD results in the local regions could be seen as a vote against the legitimacy of King Mohammed's narrow reforms and leave the country vulnerable if protests resume.

rs/kms (AFP, Reuters)