IFES Election Guide - Country Profile: Morocco

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Parliamentary
2016

Morocco
Kingdom of Morocco
Region: Africa

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: King MOHAMED VI
Head of Government: Prime Minister Abdelilah BENKIRANE **
Assembly: Morocco has a bicameral Parliament (Barlaman) consisting of the Chamber of Counselors (Majlis al-Mustacharin) with 270 seats and the Chamber of Representatives (Majlis al-Nuwab) with 325 seats.

** The monarch is required to choose the prime minister from the largest party in parliament.

Description of electoral system:

The King is the hereditary head of state.
The Prime Minister is appointed by the monarch. The monarch is required to choose the prime minister from the largest party in parliament.
In the Chamber of Counselors (Majlis al-Mustacharin) 270 members are elected by indirect vote to serve 9-year terms*. In the Chamber of Representatives (Majlis al-Nuwab), 295 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms and 30 members are reserved for women to serve 5-year terms.**

* Members are elected indirectly by local councils, professional organizations, and labor syndicates. One-third of the members are renewed every three years.

** 295 members are elected in 95 multi-seat constituencies. The thirty reserved seats are from a national list of women.