Rabat, Morocco (TMT)- In the wake of various aids of Morocco’s Ministry of Interior indulging, during last general elections campaign, in unfair and, in other instances, fraud practices, rallying people to support some parties while scorching others, despite the fact that it is the Ministry of Interior’s duty to supervise the electoral process and to make sure it is fair and transparent, the official spokesman of Morocco’s Al Istiqlal party said that “it is prime time to establish an independent election commission to monitor elections.”
Adil Benhamza, who was speaking on the sidelines of a show on Moroccan state TV Al Aoula yesterday, added, “all Moroccans are aware of the practices the authorities were indulging in during last elections. It is a necessity now to establish an independent election commission.”
“Thank god, everything went without major incidents,” Benhamza added.
“Establishing an independent election commission will halt the ongoing practice of questioning the credibility of elections, always a subject of political confrontation.”
It is worth reminding that international observers have been calling repeatedly upon the Moroccan authorities to consider the establishment of an independent election commission since 2007, yet their calls received a deaf ear.
In 2011, the International Observation Mission asked the Moroccan government to “explore the feasibility of an independent election commission with supervisory powers over future elections and formally recognize the role of such a commission in the electoral code,” stressing that “such commissions are a common feature in election processes worldwide that seek to build public confidence. The empowerment of such a body and its role as a neutral actor in the electoral process would also help overcome public skepticism of administrative and government structures.”
In 2016 as well, two days after the folding of the general elections, the International Observation Mission renewed its call to the Moroccan government to establish an independent election commission
The Moroccan Times.
