Less than two weeks after Morocco’s parliamentary elections, King Mohammed VI on September 19 chose Abbas el-Fassi, leader of the nationalist Istiqlal (Independence) Party, as Morocco’s next prime minister.
On September 7, Morocco’s parliamentary elections ended in a win for the Istiqlal Party, a partner in Morocco’s ruling coalition, though marked by a record-low turnout. Istiqlal won 52 seats in the 325-member lower house, up from 48 in the last parliament, followed by the opposition Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) with 47 seats, and the Union of Socialist Popular Forces (USFP) with 36 seats.
The complex electoral system, based on proportional representation, makes it very difficult for a single party to gain an absolute majority. Intense negotiations over forming a new governing coalition will thus follow. All eyes are now set on the appointment of a new cabinet, which should take place in the next few weeks.
According to political analysts, the disappointing electorate participation, down from 52% in the last election in 2002 to 37% of the 15.5 million voters, reflects Moroccans’ feeling that the government has not done enough to eradicate widespread poverty, unemployment and corruption.
However, economic growth and unemployment dominated the Moroccan election. During the course of the campaign, all of the parties made ambitious pledges to cut taxes and create jobs.
Unemployment remains a key concern for Moroccans, in a country where over 60,000 university graduates enter the job market every year. The Istiqlal Party pledged to create 1.3 million new jobs over the next five years and lower unemployment to less than 7% from its current 10% by promoting opportunities in key industrial and service sectors, including agriculture, fisheries, car assembly, telecoms and health. These have been highlighted as key areas for economic development.
Following through on commitments
The party said it is committed to achieve GDP growth of 6%, excluding cereal production (after efforts to diversify and not rely upon cereal revenues following this year’s crop failures). It has also promised to allocate Dh1,200 ($146) to underprivileged families for enabling each child to enroll in school; Dh6,000 ($732) to families caring for a disabled person and Dh3,000 ($366) to those looking after an elderly person.
Another pledge worth noting is the party’s commitment to tax cuts, which were high on the agenda for both Istiqlal and the USFP during the campaign. Istiqlal proposed cutting the personal income tax imposed on middle-class workers to 35% down from 40% at present, and reducing Value Added Tax (VAT) from 20% to 18% by 2012. It also proposed dividing business income taxes into three categories according to size and revenue: 2.5% for micro-companies (those with revenues not exceeding Dh100,000), 25% for SMEs and 35% for large businesses and financial and service sector companies. All the political parties stressed the need to ease tax burdens on companies to encourage both recruitment and investment.
An impressive and bold economic reform platform is evident, but how and when it will be delivered remains to be seen. Morocco’s economic indicators are at a current high for this quarter with real GDP growth reaching 8% and unemployment falling to just below the 10% mark. But as unemployment and poverty are the main concerns of the electorate, the new government will need to commit to economic reform soon.
