Morocco: War of Words Escalates As Moroccans Go to Vote

7 October 2016

Today millions of Moroccans will head to the ballot box to vote in parliamentary elections to select politicians for 395 seats in the House of Representatives. In the run-up to election day, the war of words between the main rival parties - the incumbent PJD (Party of Justice and Development) and the Party for Authenticity and Modernity (PAM) - has escalated, with the Islamist PJD claiming that their main rival, the PAM, is favoured by the state, and the latter stating that the PJD has been spreading extremist ideology throughout the kingdom.

Thirty parties have fielded candidates in what will be the second legislative elections since the protests of 2011. Yet only four or five parties have a strong electoral base and are expected to win a sizeable number of seats - namely, the incumbent PJD, the rising PAM, the Istiqlal Party (founded in 1944), the Popular Movement, and the Party of Progress and Socialism.

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