US congratulates Morocco on parliamentary polls

Google/AFP, Nov 27, 2011

Abdelilah Benkirane, general secretary of the Justice and Development Party

 (PJD) (AFP, Abdelhak Senna)

WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday congratulated Morocco on its parliamentary election but cautioned that the task of building a democracy would require more "hard work."

Morocco's moderate Islamist party, the Justice and Development Party (PJD), won a parliamentary election for the first time, according to preliminary results. The interior ministry was expected to release final results on Sunday.

"I congratulate the Moroccan people on the successful completion of Friday's parliamentary elections where millions of Moroccans went to the polls to elect their new political leaders," Clinton said in a statement.

"Now, working with King Mohammed VI, the new parliament and civil society can implement the amended constitution as a step toward fulfilling the aspirations and rights of all Moroccans," she said.

According to a new constitution overwhelmingly approved in a July referendum, Mohammed VI must now pick the prime minister from the party that won the most seats in parliament, instead of naming whomever he pleases.

If the early results are confirmed, the PJD would be the latest religious party to achieve huge gains on the back of the Arab Spring popular uprisings that have swept across North Africa and the Middle East.

The king, the latest scion of a monarchy that has ruled the country for 350 years, proposed changes to the constitution that curb some of his near absolute powers as autocratic regimes were toppled in nearby Tunisia, Egypt and Libya and pro-democracy protests brewed at home.

With 288 out of the 395 seats up for grabs awarded, the PJD captured 80 seats in the election, Interior Minister Taib Cherkaoui told a news conference.

That is nearly double the 45 seats won by Prime Minister Abbas el Fassi's Independence Party, which finished second and has headed a five-party coalition government since 2007.

But Clinton warned: "The hard work of building democracy does not end when the votes are tallied and the winners announced."

"As we have seen in so many changes underway across the region, political leaders will be judged not only by what they say, but what they do," she said.

Clinton said Washington was ready to work with the new parliament "to strengthen the rule of law, raise human rights standards, promote transparent and accountable governance and work toward sustained, democratic reform."