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Rabat — The elections of September 8 were held in the “best conditions”, despite a particular and exceptional situation, marked mainly by the challenges related to the current health crisis, said Thursday minister of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit.
“Despite the fact that these elections took place in a particular and exceptional situation, marked essentially by the challenges related to the current health crisis, our will to all and our awareness of the importance of the political stage that our country is going through, have allowed us together to hold these elections in the best conditions,” said the minister, who presented the provisional results of the general elections.
The Kingdom of Morocco has experienced during several months an atmosphere of global mobilization to succeed in the conduct of the various electoral, legislative, regional and communal elections, as a stage that condenses large hopes and expectations of the entire Moroccan people in the strengthening of the dynamics of development and the enshrining of the democratic choice, but also in view of the fact that it carries great stakes related to the immunization of the political achievements accumulated by our country throughout the previous elections, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, he explained.
Laftit, who was accompanied by minister delegate to the minister of the Interior, Noureddine Boutayeb, noted that the various authorities concerned have mobilized, with their various human resources at the central and territorial levels, to bring together all the material and logistical means to ensure the success of the various stages of the electoral process and facilitate the voting operation.
In this context, he said, great efforts have been made on the occasion of the operation of renewal of the voters’ lists, since the number of new voters has reached 1,806,724, bringing the national electorate to 17,509,316.
In order to bring the ballot boxes closer to the voters, 40,628 polling stations were created, supported by 4,000 central offices, with an average of 10 polling stations for each central office.
For their part, the political parties have mobilized to conduct this electoral competition, since 31 formations were presented, including an alliance created on the occasion of these elections.
Aware of the importance of the electoral campaign in strengthening political participation, as a fundamental step in the electoral process and a true barometer of the attractiveness of their speeches, political parties have made great efforts to explain their programs as well as their positions vis-à-vis the nation’s issues and the concerns of citizens, through the use of various means of communication, he added.
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In compliance with the preventive measures related to the epidemiological situation, the political parties and their candidates during the election campaign held nearly 12,249 activities, he noted.
The minister congratulated the candidates and the political bodies for their respect for the rules of fair competition, within the framework of the provisions in force and their commitment to the spirit of citizenship, making the supreme interest of the country prevail “despite isolated acts that have not impacted the normal course of the campaign”.
He recalled that pursuant to the High Royal Instructions to the minister of Interior and the President of the Public Prosecutor’s Office to ensure the smooth running of the electoral operations and to fight all practices that could undermine them, a central commission and provincial and regional commissions for monitoring the elections have been established.
The main mission of these commissions is to take practical measures to ensure the honesty and smooth running of the electoral process, to deal immediately with anything that could undermine it, from registration on the electoral rolls to the announcement of the results of the election and the election of the bodies and structures of the councils of the elected bodies, to activate measures for the immediate control of offenses related to the electoral process, whenever the necessary data is available, and to initiate the procedure for investigation or prosecution if necessary.
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