Sept. 8 Elections Mark Morocco’s ‘Democratic Maturity’: Acharq Al-Awsat

On September 8, Moroccans entered a new political phase, through elections which proved that the Kingdom has reached “the age of democratic maturity,” wrote Saturday the daily newspaper “Acharq Al-Awsat”. “Morocco has undergone several stages towards the strengthening of democracy under the leadership of HM King Mohammed VI who laid down the foundation with constitutional texts,” the daily pointed out in an article published under the title “Morocco at the age of democratic maturity”, wrote by Abdel Rahman Shalgham, Libya’s foreign minister and former representative of the country to the United Nations. According to the author, “Moroccans interacted with these election with an objective spirit, and young people took part massively in these elections, whose integrity was unanimously recognized by local and international observers.” The amendment of article 47 of the constitution, decided by HM King Mohammed VI, according to which the Sovereign appoints the party that received the most votes in the legislative elections to form the government, has led into a great change in political practice in Morocco, he noted. “The Kingdom of Morocco has become a parliamentary constitutional state and its political identity has become institutionalized, through legislative elections,” he underlined.