Islamists expected to take most seats in Morocco's parliamentary election The Canadian Press 13 hours ago
RABAT, Morocco (AP) - Moroccans began voting Friday in parliamentary elections likely to make the country's leading political force an Islamist party that has tapped into mounting disillusionment with the parties in power. A bombing Thursday that killed 16 in neighbouring Algeria cast a shadow over the Morocco vote, threatening to blunt the expected victory of the Justice and Development Party, or PJD. The PJD denounces the Islamic extremism that has fuelled 15 years of violence against the Algerian government, but critics fear hardline plans lurk beneath its moderate surface. A PJD victory would mark the first time Islamists have wielded such legitimate political power in North Africa. Ultimate authority, however, rests with a king determined to maintain his country's tolerant, tourist-friendly image and remain friends with the United States. No party is expected to emerge with a majority of seats in the 325-member lower house of parliament. Top contenders were the PJD and the top two movements in the outgoing parliament - the centre-left Socialist Union of Popular Forces, or USFP, and the conservative-leaning Istiqlal, both loyal to King Mohamed. Up to a dozen smaller parties also were expected to make it into parliament, where 30 seats are reserved for women. Based on the election results, the king names a prime minister, who names a new government - likely to an awkward coalition. First vote results were expected Saturday. Some 3,000 Moroccan and international observers are monitoring the vote. Despite scattered cases of election violence and other irregularities in the 2002 vote, it was generally considered the most free and fair election in Morocco's history. Turnout was only 52 per cent in 2002 and observers say it could prove key in this year's ballot. "We must vote for a party that is not afraid to show that Islam and politics are friends," said Abdelkrim Hezraf, a 40-year-old worker for a pharmaceutical company. "PJD is our hope for the future, our hope for our youth," said Hezraf as he waited to vote at a polling station in a school in a middle-class neighbourhood in Rabat, the Moroccan capital. Hezraf described himself as a moderate Muslim with three teenage children. Formed in the late 1990s from several Islamist strands, the PJD rose to prominence in the last parliamentary elections in 2002 and hopes to double its current 42 seats. It has tapped the mounting disillusionment with the parties in power, especially among the poor and jobless, pledging to fight corruption and better equip college students for the job market. Nearly five million of Morocco's 33 million people live on less than $2 a day, according to the World Bank. Fears of strict Islamic rule led the Algerian military to abort 1992 parliamentary elections that an Islamist party was set to win. The move touched off an insurgency that still simmers with attacks like Thursday's bombing in the eastern town of Batna, which left at least 16 dead and scores wounded. The PJD has worked to distance itself from that kind of violence, and from some members' calls for banning alcohol and requiring women to cover their heads. Some say the PJD has softened so much it risks being co-opted by the king. King Mohamed, struggling to maintain his democratic reputation while keeping a lid on terrorism, has gently embraced the PJD. The country's largest Islamic movement - Justice and Charity or Adl wal Ihsan, which openly advocates Islamic government - is banned from politics.
