Johannesburg — THERE was no Islamist breakthrough at Morocco's parliamentary elections at the weekend as the Party for Justice and Development (PJD) - a moderate Islamist party - failed in its bid to become the most powerful player in parliament.

In a week during which jihadist movement Islamist Maghreb attempted to assassinate Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Thursday and killed nearly 60 coast guards in one of the deadliest bombings in Algerian history, many observers expressed fears the week could end on a worrying note with an electoral breakthrough in Morocco by the PJD.

The party, which had won 41 seats during the 2002 elections, had expected to double its presence in parliament. But it was not to be as the PJD - by far the most active party during the campaigning - was surprisingly beaten by the conservative Istiqlal (the Party of Independence), Morocco's oldest political party, which until this weekend ranked third among the political formations constituting the parliamentary coalition.

Istiqlal won 52 seats out of the available 325 seats, overtaking the Socialist Union of People's Forces (USFP) as the coalition's leading force. The USFP was the biggest loser, seeing the number of its seats plummet from 50 to 36. The party leaders met yesterday to review their participation in the coalition.

The Istiqlal victory will come as a positive development for Morocco's King Mohammed , who was reported to be "annoyed" at the prospect of having to appoint a prime minister from an Islamist formation that, for the past two years, has been highly critical of his efforts to reform Moroccan society.

It will also maintain the parliamentary coalition in power, though uncertainty remains about the outcome of the USFP meeting.

But Faten Aggad, a researcher with the South African Institute of International Affairs , believes the socialists have little choice but to remain part of the coalition. "However, in case they decided to go it alone, the Istiqlal has the option of co-opting other political parties to make up for the number of seats it needs to get control of the parliament."

The Istiqlal is also set to play a more prominent role in the coalition and get access to key cabinet positions in the new government , Aggad said.

Its victory was a consequence of good performances by its four ministers in the incumbent government.

However, the low voter turnout - only 37% of the voters went to the polling stations - was seen by many observers as an ominous warning to the future government. Voters' apathy was seen as a "passive vote of no confidence" punishing the government's ineffectual overall performance in meeting its own economic and social targets, an inefficiency on which Islamist movements have thrived in the country over the past two years.

Moroccan ambassador to SA Habib Defouad said that the polls were proof that democracy was making strides in Morocco. "There were many election observers from the Moroccan civil society, as well as from American and European organisations - all are institutions that have always been highly critical of the Moroccan government.

"This was a first in Moroccan politics. But they issued a positive report, saying the elections were free and fair."