Elections in Morocco are held on a national level for the legislature. Parliament has two chambers. The Assembly of Representatives of Morocco (Majlis al-Nuwab/Assemblée des Répresentants) has 325 members elected for a five year term, 295 elected in multi-seat constituencies and 30 in national lists consisting only of women. The Assembly of Councillors (Majlis al-Mustasharin) has 270 members, elected for a nine year term, elected by local councils (162 seats), professional chambers (91 seats) and wage-earners (27 seats).
Morocco has had a multi-party system since independence in 1956, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. Since Morocco considers Western Sahara as part of its territory and administers large parts of it, the elections are also held there.
On October 2006, as many as 67 people were arrested for election fraud allegations related to the September 8, 2006 polls. Among them there were 17 lawmakers (12 from the Assembly of Councillors and 5 from the Assembly of Representatives). It was the first time the Moroccan government made such arrests.
Morocco (Arabic: المغرب al-Maghrib ; Berber: ⵍⵎⴻⵖⵔⵉⴱ / ⴰⵎⴻⵔⵔⵓⴽElmeɣrib / Amerruk), officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of about 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², including the disputed region of the Western Sahara, seen by and mostly administered by Morocco as the Southern Provinces. Morocco is part of the Maghreb region, in addition to Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania, and Libya, with which it shares cultural, historical and linguistic ties.
Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco holds vast executive powers, including the power to dissolve the parliament. Executive power is exercised by the government but more importantly by the king himself. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Assembly of Representatives and the Assembly of Councillors. The king can also issue decrees called dahirs which have the force of law. The latest Parliamentary elections were held in November 25, 2011, and were considered by some neutral observers to be mostly free and fair. Voter turnout in these elections was estimated to be 43% of registered voters, but only about 25% of Moroccan adult citizens actually voted. The rest either chose not to vote or they were not registered as voters. The political capital is Rabat, but the largest city is Casablanca; other main cities include Marrakesh, Tetouan, Tangier, Salé, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, and Nador.
Driss Jettou (Arabic: إدريس جطو) (born May 24, 1945) was the Prime Minister of Morocco from 2002 to 2007.
Jettou was born in the town of El-Jadida. After secondary studies at El Khawarizmi college in Casablanca, he obtained a technical Baccalauréat in mathematics in 1964. He then joined the Faculty of Sciences of Rabat where he graduated in physics and chemistry in 1966. He also received a diploma of adjustment and management of company of Cordwainers Colleges of London in 1968.
Between 1968 and 1993, Jettou occupied many managerial positions of several Moroccan companies. He then chaired the Moroccan Federation of industries of leather (FEDIC) and was a member of the General Confederation of the Companies in Morocco (CGEM) and later became the vice-president of the Moroccan association of exporters (ASMEX).
He was appointed Prime Minister by King Mohammed VI on October 9, 2002. His appointment was controversial as he was not then a member of any party, although he governed with a coalition that held a parliamentary majority. The Socialist Union of Forces for Progress and Istiqlal Party were the major parties of this coalition. His experience in government includes a period as finance minister of Morocco from 1997 until 1998. He was also the interior minister from 2001 until he became prime minister.