By Abdul Kimera
For the third time since the 2011 constitution reforms after the Arab spring, the kingdom of Morocco on Wednesday went to polls amidst strict measures for the Covid-19 pandemic.
Four major parties, and other insignificant ones, contested in the highly contested election where Moroccans voted for members of parliaments, deputies and more than 31,000 local and regional representatives.
With a voter turn up of over 50% by closure of election time, results of over 90% voters by the interior ministry indicated that the National Rally of Independents (RNI) led by billionaire Aziz Akhannouch won 97 seats in parliament followed by Authenticity and Modernity party(PAM), considered king Mohammed VI party by many, with 82 seats.
Al Istiqlal party had 78 seats and the incumbent Justice and Development party (PJD) in power for the last decade lost 113 seats gaining only 12 seats in an election participated in by about 18million eligible voters.
The smoothly run election was observed by over 70 international observers. Over 4,000 other people were accredited to take part in the election that had a brief but intense campaign.
With these final results announcement, people in Morocco are likely to see a new makeup of government on the national level different from that of the current prime minister Saad Eddine Othmani party that has led the Islamic nation on an anti-corruption agenda since 2011.
