“Morocco’s New Elections: Just Like the Old Elections?”

POMED Senior Research Associate Daphne McCurdy analyzes the political landscape in Morocco through the lens of last week’s parliamentary elections. McCurdy, in an article for Foreign Policy, contends that “the current path of reform initiated by the monarchy is not aggressive enough to satisfy demands for greater democracy and political parties are seen to be incapable of bringing about that change themselves.”

In Morocco, where the waves of regional uprisings have precipitated top-down gradual reform rather than regime crackdown, a system that favors vote-buying fuels a popular disdain for political parties. McCurdy writes that this disbelief that political parties can affect real change is especially strong among Moroccan youth. While a 45% voter turnout and an overwhelmingly approved constitutional referendum may seem to suggest a path toward reform, McCurdy asserts that the system remains flawed. The victory of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) in last week’s parliamentary elections, she claims, demonstrates Moroccans’ desire for “a fuller makeover” of the status quo: “Both the low turnout and the PJD’s success show that Moroccans want genuine change, and won’t be fooled by superficial attempts to win them over.”

Meanwhile, State Department Spokesman Mark Toner congratulated “the millions of Moroccans who did exercise their right to vote in Morocco’s parliamentary elections,” adding that “we’ll wait and see” how the PJD “actually operates and the things it says publicly, as well as its governance.”