RABAT (AFP) — Ballot-box corruption marred Morocco's legislative elections this month, a report from a group of Moroccan observers alleged Thursday, despite an all-clear from international monitors.
The preliminary report from a group of 617 Moroccan associations on the September 7 elections said "the honesty of the elections was compromised by the pressure exerted on large sectors of the electorate, in particular by the illicit use of money, merchandise and promises."
It said that "functionaries and agents related to that administration intervened in favour of candidates".
The report from the collective, which received support from the European Union, also noted that worshippers at mosques were pressured in connection with the vote.
Vote counting occurred according to the rules, the report said, but it called the low voter turnout a "political earthquake".
Only 37 percent of registered voters participated, which was considered the country's lowest turnout ever.
The head of a human rights body in the country immediately criticised the observers' report, saying "the elections were carried out correctly."
"Their report notes positive aspects, but they give the overall report a negative tone," said Ahmed Herzenni, head of the Consultative Council on Human Rights.
International poll monitors had earlier given the vote their stamp of approval.
"Overall the vote was conducted in an orderly manner, even if the members of the delegation were informed of isolated irregularities on election day," the monitors said in a preliminary report.
However, the head of the team of 52 international observers, former Bolivian president Jorge Fernando Quiroga Ramirez, cautioned that corruption could have occurred in areas where they were not located.
Corruption watchdog Transparency Morocco said that "while things occurred more or less correctly in voting stations, there was large-scale use of money in houses and in the streets through intermediaries."
"Money played a large role in this election," said Azzeddine Akesbi, the organisation's secretary general.
Official results showed the conservative Istiqlal, Morocco's oldest party, won 52 seats in the vote.
The moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) was in second place with 46 seats, while the Union of Socialist Popular Forces (USFP), which previously held the most seats, fell to 38.
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