1977 Moroccan general election explained

Election Name:1977 Moroccan general election
Country:Morocco
Previous Election:1970
Next Election:1984
Election Date:3 June 1977
Seats For Election:264 seats in the House of Representatives
Majority Seats:133
Ongoing:no
Party1:Istiqlal Party
Leader1:Allal al-Fassi
Percentage1:21.62
Seats1:51
Last Election1:8
Party3:CDPM
Percentage3:12.40
Seats3:44
Last Election3:new
Party2:Popular Movement (Morocco)
Leader2:Abdelkrim al-Khatib
Percentage2:14.64
Seats2:15
Last Election2:60
Party4:Socialist Union of Popular Forces
Percentage4:2.31
Seats4:1
Last Election4:new
Party5:Action Party
Leader5:Abdellah Senhaji
Percentage5:2.03
Seats5:3
Last Election5:new
Party6:PPS
Leader6:Ali Yata
Percentage6:1.80
Seats6:2
Last Election6:new
Party7:UMT
Percentage7:0.52
Seats7:7
Last Election7:new
Party8:Independent politician
Percentage8:44.9
Seats8:141
Last Election8:159
Prime Minister
Before Election:Ahmed Osman
Before Party:RNI
After Election:Ahmed Osman
After Party:RNI

Parliamentary elections were held in Morocco on 3 June 1977. Elections had previously been held in 1970, but Parliament had been dissolved in March 1972 and a new constitution approved in a referendum in the same month. Fresh elections were scheduled for May, but were later indefinitely postponed.

Unlike the previous Parliament, in which only 90 of the 240 members had been directly elected, the new Parliament had 176 directly elected members, 48 elected by colleges of local councillors, and 40 from professional colleges (15 from the Chambers of Agriculture, 10 from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 7 from the Chamber of Handicrafts and 8 by representatives of employees' organizations).[1]

A total of 1,022 candidates contested the election; 456 were independents, with the remainder belonging to seven different parties. Ultimately independents won the majority of seats, with a total of 141. Voter turnout was 82.36%.[1]

Notes and References

  1. http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/MOROCCO_1977_E.PDF Morocco