Moroccan king scores landslide win in reform vote
Jul 3, 2011 0:22:33 GMT -5
Post by PrisonerOfHope on Jul 3, 2011 0:22:33 GMT -5
Published 03:52 02.07.11
Latest update 03:52 02.07.11
Moroccan king scores landslide win in reform vote
Morocco's King Mohammed scored a landslide victory in a referendum on a reformed constitution he proposed to placate "Arab Spring" protests as voters defied critics who said it did little to curb his powers.
Preliminary results of Friday's poll showed 98.5 percent of voters approved the text, Interior Minister Taib Cherkaoui declared on state media, citing returns from 94 percent of polling booths. Final results could take several days.
Morocco's King Mohammed
Morocco's King Mohammed casting his ballot at a voting station in Rabat July 1, 2011.
Photo by: Reuters
The charter explicitly grants executive powers to the government but retains the king at the helm of the cabinet, army, religious authorities and the judiciary.
With a turnout put at nearly 73 percent, the result will be seen as a vote of confidence in the leader of the Arab world's longest-serving dynasty. It will be closely scrutinized by Gulf Arab monarchies who have so far dodged domestic reform calls.
"We knew right from the start that the referendum will be in favor of the reform, but not necessarily for good reasons," said Ouidad Melhaf, an activist within the so-called "February
20" street protest movement
"Widespread poverty, illiteracy and fear of the state played a key role in the vote's outcome," she said, saying that the movement would re-launch its regular protests on Sunday.
Others cried foul, questioning why only 13 million voters were registered to vote from a total of nearly 20 million Moroccans of voting age, and disputing the high turnout.
"The turnout figures were rigged," said Fathallah Arsalane of the Justice and Spirituality Islamist group, banned by the authorities but the largest organized opposition to the king.
"Our activists monitored polling stations throughout the country and what they have seen is far below the figure of the ministry."
Ali Bouabid, of the executive committee of the main Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) party, queried voting procedures at his local polling station on his Facebook page.
"I handed in my voter's card and asked if they should verify my identity. I was told 'we don't do this'," he wrote.
Rest of story at link:
www.haaretz.com/news/international/moroccan-king-scores-landslide-win-in-reform-vote-1.370817
Latest update 03:52 02.07.11
Moroccan king scores landslide win in reform vote
Morocco's King Mohammed scored a landslide victory in a referendum on a reformed constitution he proposed to placate "Arab Spring" protests as voters defied critics who said it did little to curb his powers.
Preliminary results of Friday's poll showed 98.5 percent of voters approved the text, Interior Minister Taib Cherkaoui declared on state media, citing returns from 94 percent of polling booths. Final results could take several days.
Morocco's King Mohammed
Morocco's King Mohammed casting his ballot at a voting station in Rabat July 1, 2011.
Photo by: Reuters
The charter explicitly grants executive powers to the government but retains the king at the helm of the cabinet, army, religious authorities and the judiciary.
With a turnout put at nearly 73 percent, the result will be seen as a vote of confidence in the leader of the Arab world's longest-serving dynasty. It will be closely scrutinized by Gulf Arab monarchies who have so far dodged domestic reform calls.
"We knew right from the start that the referendum will be in favor of the reform, but not necessarily for good reasons," said Ouidad Melhaf, an activist within the so-called "February
20" street protest movement
"Widespread poverty, illiteracy and fear of the state played a key role in the vote's outcome," she said, saying that the movement would re-launch its regular protests on Sunday.
Others cried foul, questioning why only 13 million voters were registered to vote from a total of nearly 20 million Moroccans of voting age, and disputing the high turnout.
"The turnout figures were rigged," said Fathallah Arsalane of the Justice and Spirituality Islamist group, banned by the authorities but the largest organized opposition to the king.
"Our activists monitored polling stations throughout the country and what they have seen is far below the figure of the ministry."
Ali Bouabid, of the executive committee of the main Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) party, queried voting procedures at his local polling station on his Facebook page.
"I handed in my voter's card and asked if they should verify my identity. I was told 'we don't do this'," he wrote.
Rest of story at link:
www.haaretz.com/news/international/moroccan-king-scores-landslide-win-in-reform-vote-1.370817
