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Middle East and North Africa
Morocco |
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Last reviewed: 21 May 2008 |
Country information
POLITICS
Morocco's political system is evolving from a strongly centralised monarchy to a parliamentary system. The King retains much of the executive power, but the Parliament and most of the government are democratically elected.
Elections
Parliamentary elections for the lower house of Parliament (the House of Representatives) were held on 7 September 2007. The elections were deemed free and fair by international observers, but turnout was lower than expected at 37%. No party achieved an overall majority, but the centre-right Istiqlal party won 52 seats and its leader, Abbas El Fassi, was appointed Prime Minster. A coalition government was formed on 14 October, which includes seven women.
Elections for the upper house of Parliament (the House of Advisers) were held on 8 September 2006. One third of the seats, 90 out of 272, were contested through an electoral college system. The successful candidates were elected for nine-year terms. The governing coalition of the four main parties lost five seats but have a majority of 169. Local elections were held on 12 September 2003. Turnout was 54%, and elections were generally considered to be free and fair. The Socialist and Nationalist parties, and the Berber/rural coalition, won the bulk of seats.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Morocco has improved its human rights record in recent years. In 1993, Morocco ratified UN Conventions on torture, on discrimination against women and on child rights. In November 1993, Morocco’s first ever Minister for Human Rights was appointed.
In 2004 the Moroccan Human Rights Advisory Council (CCDH), set up the “Instance Equity and Reconciliation” (IER) to examine human rights violations in Morocco between 1956-1999. It reported to the King in December 2005. The IER report catalogued a number of human rights abuses, and identified over 9,000 people as eligible for compensation. It also made a number of recommendations to ensure that past abuses do not recur, including constitutional reforms and steps to end a culture of impunity in the Security Forces. The CCDH has been tasked to oversee the implementation of these recommendations. In March 2006 the government introduced specific anti-torture penal law.
On 25 January 2004, the government adopted a new Family Law which supports women's equality and grants them new rights e.g. equal divorce rights; right to be joint head of household etc.
There is a relatively free press. However, criticism of Islam, the monarchy or Morocco's presence in the Western Sahara is not tolerated.
Morocco's record in Western Sahara has improved in recent years, but more needs to be done to provide equality of opportunity for the people of the territory. Within Morocco itself, as well as in Western Sahara, in recent years marches and sit-ins have been broken up by police. Pro-independence demonstrations are a flash point for potentially violent confrontation.
For further information about human rights in Morocco, please refer to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights.
