The preparation of the Kingdom of Morocco's third periodic report (CCPR/C/76/Add.3) on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was completed in July 1993. Following the indirect parliamentary elections held in September 1993, it has become necessary to issue the present addendum, in order to provide information on the elections which marked the culmination of the electoral process and represented a new and decisive stage in the consolidation of democracy and constitutionality in the Kingdom of Morocco.
1. On 17 September 1993, Morocco completed the parliamentary electoral process begun on 25 June 1993 with the election by indirect suffrage of one-third (111 seats) of the members of the House of Representatives (Parliament).
2. The voters on this occasion were the members of communal councils, chambers of agriculture, chambers of commerce and industry and crafts chambers and wage-earners' representatives. This was the fourth round of elections following the September 1992 referendum on the revision of the 1972 Constitution, the communal council elections of 16 October 1992, the elections to professional chambers of 25 October 1992 and the direct parliamentary elections of 25 June 1993.
3. The election of 17 September was held in an atmosphere of free competition and responsibility and was marked by calm, transparency and fairness. All the conditions necessary to ensure the fairness and transparency of these elections were met.
4. The individual candidacies or lists of candidates presented during the period from 4 to 9 September will be discussed in section I below (paras. 5 to 33) and the election results themselves will be examined in the tables in section II and in section III (paras. 34 to 44).
A. Communal councils
5. Some 313 candidates stood for election to the 69 seats to be filled. The political parties making up the "Entente", namely the Union constitutionelle (Constitutional Union) (UC), Mouvement populaire (Popular Movement) (MP), Parti national démocrate (National Democratic Party) (PND) and Mouvement national populaire (National Popular Movement) (MNP), on the one hand, and "Unité", consisting of the Parti de l'Istiqlal (Istiqlal Party) (PI), Union socialiste des forces popularies (Socialist Union of Popular Forces) (USFP), Parti du progrès et du socialisme (Progress and Socialism Party) (PPS) and Organisation de l'action démocratique et populaire (Democratic and Popular Action Organization) (OADP), on the other, put up joint candidates.
6. The "Entente" parties put up 98 candidates, distributed as follows:
UC: 36 (including one woman candidate)
MP: 26 (including one woman candidate)
PND: 19
MNP: 17.
7. The "Unité" parties put up 102 candidates, distributed as follows:
PI: 48
USFP: 20
PPS: 32 (including one woman candidate)
OADP: 2.
8. The remaining 113 candidates were spread among the various other contending political parties as follows:
Rassemblement national des independents (National Independents' Union) (RNI): 54
Parti démocratique independent (Independent Democratic Party) (PDI): 29
Parti de l'Action (Action Party) (PA): 23
No political affiliation (NPA): 7.
9. The breakdown of candidates by level of education shows a sharp increase in the number with higher education. They numbered 147, or about 50 per cent, and were followed by those with secondary level (106, or 34 per cent), and by those with primary level education (60, or 16 per cent).
10. Thirty-four lists comprising 352 candidates from the various political parties were submitted for the 32 seats allocated to professional chambers. The lists of candidates were as follows:
11. For the 15 chamber of agriculture seats in contention, 9 lists comprising 135 candidates were submitted. Despite the political labels of the lists (UC, RNI, PI, USFP, MP, PND, MNP, PPS, PA, PDI), the breakdown by political party of candidates belonging to chambers of agriculture who were elected on 5 February 1993 is as follows:
RNI: 24
PI: 17
PND: 16
MP: 14
UC: 11
MNP: 10
USFP: 10
PPS: 1
NPA: 32.
12. The largest age-group among candidates was 55 years and over with 57 candidates (42.23 per cent), followed by the 45 to 54 age-group, with 37 candidates (27.4 per cent), the 35 to 44 age-group with 33 candidates (24.44 per cent) and the 23 to 34 age group, with 8 candidates (5.93 per cent).
13. The breakdown of candidates by level of education was as follows:
Able to read and write: 59 (43.70 per cent)
Primary: 30 (22.23 per cent)
Secondary: 33 (24.44 per cent)
Higher: 13 (9.63 per cent)
14. The number of lists submitted for the 10 seats allocated to this electoral body was 14, comprising 140 candidates, including 1 woman.
15. The lists were submitted by the following political parties: UC, RNI, PI, USFP, MP, PND, MNP, PPS, PA and PDI. Four other lists were submitted by candidates with no political affiliation.
16. The breakdown of candidates by political party, based on the results of the elections of 12 February 1993, was as follows:
RNI: 31
UC: 16
PI: 12
USFP: 11
PND: 10
MP: 6
MNP: 6
NPA: 48 (including 1 woman).
17. The distribution of candidates by age-group was as follows:
22 to 34 years: 10 candidates (7.71 per cent)
35 to 44 years: 6 candidates (42.86 per cent)
45 to 54 years: 37 candidates (26.43 per cent)
55 and over: 33 candidates (23.57 per cent).
18. The breakdown of candidates by level of education shows that 61 candidates (43.57 per cent) had secondary level, 41 candidates (29.29 per cent) had higher education, 23 candidates (16.43 per cent) had primary level and 15 candidates (10.71 per cent) were able to read and write.
19. Eleven lists comprising 77 candidates, including 2 women, were submitted for the 7 seats allocated to this electoral body. Lists were submitted by the following political parties: UC, RNI, PI, USFP, MP, PND, MNP, PPS, PA and PDI, together with 1 list with no political affiliation.
20. The distribution of candidates by political party was as follows:
PNI: 17 (1 woman)
UC: 12
PI: 7
USFP: 6
PND: 6
MP: 2
NPA: 20 (1 woman).
Neither PA nor PDI presented any candidates elected under their political labels on 12 February 1993.
21. The breakdown of candidates by age-group places the 35 to 44 group in first place, with 26 candidates (33.76 per cent), followed by the 44 to 54 group, with 25 candidates (32.47 per cent), the 55 and over group, with 16 candidates (20.78 per cent) and the 23 to 34 group, with 10 candidates (12.99 per cent).
22. As for level of education, the breakdown of candidates shows that 37 candidates (48.05 per cent) had primary level, 23 (29.87 per cent) had secondary level, 14 (18.18 per cent) were able to read and write and 3 (3.9 per cent) had higher level.
23. Eight lists comprising 80 candidates, 4 of them women, were submitted for the 10 seats allocated to this group. Lists were submitted by the following trade-unions organizations and political parties:
Union générale des travailleurs au Maroc (UGTM), including two women candidates
Confédération démocratique du travail (CDT)
Forces ouvrières marocaines (FOM)
Syndicat national populaire (SNP)
Union des syndicats populaires (USP)
List of trade-unionists affiliated to the Progress and Socialism Party, including one woman candidate.
24. The breakdown of candidates by age-group was as follows:
35 to 44 years: 33 candidates (41.25 per cent)
45 to 54 years: 30 candidates (37.50 per cent)
55 and over: 11 candidates (13.75 per cent)
25. In addition, the breakdown of candidates by level of education showed a slight predominance of candidates able to read and write, who numbered 28, or 35 per cent, whereas candidates with a primary school education accounted for only 8.75 per cent, with 7 candidates. Candidates with a secondary school education were the second largest group, numbering 28 (30 per cent), slightly more than those with higher education, who numbered 21 (26.25 per cent).
26. It should be noted that electoral alliances were formed only in the case of the communal councils. For the election of professional and wage-earners representatives, freedom of action was exercised by each party.
27. The breakdown of the electoral body for the election of 17 September 1993 was as follows:
28. The election campaign was conducted in an atmosphere of calm and tranquillity. Within their respective electoral bodies candidates made contact with individuals and held meetings. All the newspapers, particularly the partisan press, gave broad coverage to the election.
29. The election platforms of parties, trade-unions and candidates with no political affiliation were presented in outline form during this campaign and differed very little from the positions set out in the campaign for the direct parliamentary elections; greater emphasis was placed on improving workers' purchasing power, halting dismissals, developing an economic policy for renewed growth and job creation, introducing universal medical coverage, improving social security and reforming the professional chambers.
30. In implementation of the wishes expressed by the national committee responsible for supervising the conduct of the elections, Moroccan radio and television gave airtime to the various political groupings, in accordance with the conditions laid down by the special committee for the use of the media during the election campaign. This use of the media helped to make voters aware of the political significance of the indirect elections.
31. This effect was heightened by the partisan press, whose circulation increased significantly to more than 200,000, although this was still far short of the figure of 750,000 reached during the direct parliamentary campaign.
32. Rallies and meetings were organized throughout the country. However, the number of people participating remained small (less than 50,000, compared with almost one million for the parliamentary elections).
33. The personality, family and tribal affiliation of candidates were decisive factors in this electoral contest, so much so that they outweighed party political considerations, producing clearly observable shifts, particularly in the case of communal councils. This in turn affected voting discipline, leading to sometimes unexpected final results.
Seats to be filled: 69
Eligible voters: 22,138
Votes cast: 21,519
Participation rate: 97.2 per cent
Valid ballots: 20,128
Seats to be filled: 15
Eligible voters: 543
Votes cast: 526
Rate of participation: 96.86 per cent
Valid ballots: 515
Electoral quotient: 34.33
Seats to be filled: 10
Eligible voters: 676
Votes cast: 659
Rate of participation: 97.49 per cent
Valid ballots: 633
Electoral quotient: 63.3
Seats to be filled: 7
Eligible voters: 410
Votes cast: 409
Rate of participation: 99.76 per cent
Valid ballots: 407
Electorial quotient: 58.14
Eligible voters: 14,351
Votes cast: 10,476
Rate of participation: 73 per cent
Valid ballots: 9,479
34. The total number of candidates elected in the indirect ballot was 111. The breakdown by political party or trade-union was as follows:
Constitutional Union (UC): 27
Popular Movement (MP): 18
National Independents' Union (RNI): 13
National Popular Movement (MNP): 11
National Democratic Party (PND): 10
Istiqlal Party (PI): 7
Independent Democratic Party (PDI): 6
Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP): 4
Progress and Socialism Party (PPS): 3
No political affiliation (NPA): 2
Confédération démocratique du travail (CDT): 4
Union Morocaine du travail (UMT): 3
Union générale des travailleurs au Maroc (UGTM): 2
Progress and Socialism Party (PPS-Synd.): 1
35. The 333 deputies following the elections of 25 June 1993 and 17 September 1993 are thus distributed as follows:
UC: 54
MP: 51
MNP: 25
PND: 24
USFP: 52
PI: 50
PPS: 11
OADP: 2
36. The 54 seats of the other political parties are distributed as follows:
PDI: 9
PA: 2
NPA: 2
37. The 10 seats won by the trade unions are distributed as follows:
CDT: 4
UMT: 3
UGTM: 2
PPS (Synd.): 1
38. The breakdown of the 333 deputies by age, level of education and profession is as follows:
23 to 34 years: 21 (6.31 per cent)
35 to 44 years: 100 (30.3 per cent)
Above 45 years: 212 (63.66 per cent)
Primary: 40 (12 per cent)
Secondary: 91 (27 per cent)
Higher: 202 (61 per cent).
Teachers: 70 (21.02 per cent)
Civil servants: 41 (12.31 per cent)
Farmers: 50 (15.02 per cent)
Tradesmen: 55 (16.52 per cent)
Liberal professions: 48 (14.41 per cent)
Self-employed: 18 (8.41 per cent)
Craftsman: 6 (1.8 per cent)
Other: 35 (10.51 per cent).
39. Finally, of the 333 deputies, 84 were re-elected outgoing members of the former Chamber.
40. These elections, typified by their transparency and fairness, reaffirm Morocco's place in the exclusive club of the great nations which have opted for democracy and freedom; this could not have been achieved without the high sense of responsibility shown by the various political parties.
41. This election represents a genuine turning point in the democratic life of the country, as it completes the parliamentary structure and establishes the national democratic institutions whose sole aim is to ensure the well-being and prosperity of the Moroccan people.
42. Today, Morocco can be proud of having accomplished the enormous task of building the institutions of the new Morocco, whose indefatigable architect is none other than its Alid Sovereign.
43. With the unity of its people and all its elite, Morocco can now embark on the great campaign for continued growth and development, a campaign which will be facilitated by the fact that Morocco's political choices are based on bold and humane liberalism, clear economic choices which have proved their worth, and a determination to build for the present and for eternity.
44. The 14 tables which follow show the results of the elections, with a summary of the results of the direct election of 25 June.
Chambers of agriculture
Chambers of commerce and industry
Crafts chambers
Total professional chambers
Results indirect elections
Results direct elections
3
1
7
27
-
4
18
33
2
11
14
10
43
48
5
13
28
Wage earners
6
15
32
111
222