Calls for review of Morocco’s electoral and party system

A Moroccan professor of political sciences, Dr Abdul Ali Al-Hoor, has called for a review of the country’s electoral system in order to produce strong parties that would enable them to form functioning governments which consist of one or two parties at most.

Al-Hoor said the “blockage”, a term used to describe the current inability to form a majority government, should lead to a “review of the party decision-making process” and the need for its independence from the state.

Meanwhile political science professor, Dr Khaled Yamout, said the “blockage” and inability to form the Moroccan government until now demonstrates a process of transformation in the political system which began after 2011.

Read: Why did Morocco decide to join the African Union?

Dr Yamout explained that last year’s elections produced an unexpected result with the victory of the Justice and Development party.

According to the professor, for the first time in the history of Morocco the government should be formed on the basis of the elections instead of political bargaining between the monarchy and political elite.

Morocco is currently experiencing a state of political paralysis as Abdelilah Benkirane, Secretary General of the Islamist Justice and Development Party has been unable to form a government after his party won the legislative elections in October 2016.