At stake in this election:

• 325 seats in the Chamber of Representatives

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: King MOHAMED VI
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Driss JETTOU
• Assembly: Morocco has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Chamber of Counselors with 270 seats and the Chamber of Representatives with 325 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The King is hereditary.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the monarch.
• In the Chamber of Counselors 270 members are elected by indirect vote to serve 9-year terms*. In the Chamber of Representatives, 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.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Socialist Union of Popular Forces / (USFP)
  • Leader: Mohammed EL-YAZGHI
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Representatives election: 38
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Representatives election: 50
• Party: Independence Party/Istiqlal Party / (PI)
  • Leader: Abbas EL FASSI
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Representatives election: 52
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Representatives election: 48
• Party: National Rally of Independents / (RNI)
  • Leader: Ahmed OSMAN
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Representatives election: 41
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Representatives election: 41
• Party: Party of Justice and Development / (PJD)
  • Leader: Saad Eddine EL OTHMAN
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Representatives election: 46
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Representatives election: 42
• Party: Popular Movement / (MP)
  • Leader: Mohamed LAENSER
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Representatives election: 41
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Representatives election: 27
• Party: Constitutional Union / (UC)
  • Leader: Mohamed ABIED
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Representatives election: 27
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Representatives election: 16
• Party: Front of Democratic Forces / (FFD)
  • Leader: Thami EL KHYARI
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Representatives election: 9
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Representatives election: 12
• Party: National Democratic Party / (PND)
  • Leader: Abdallah KADIRI
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Representatives election: 3
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Representatives election: 12
• Party: Party of Progress and Socialism / (PPS)
  • Leader: Ismail ALAOUI
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Representatives election: 17
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Representatives election: 11

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 31,011,322 (2007)
• Registered Voters: 15,462,362 (September 2007)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 15,738,875 (2007)

·         Is Morocco a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Morocco ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (21 June 1993)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 34 (following the 2007 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 126 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Morocco a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Morocco ratified CRPD: Yes (8 April 2009)

·         Population with a disability: 4,651,698 (est.)