New memorandum: Forty-five recommendations for more inclusive elections

The National Human Rights Council (CNDH) released on Wednesday, March 4, 2015 a Memorandum on the general elections legal framework, as adopted by its 9th Plenary Session, held on February 11, in Rabat.

Through this memorandum, the CNDH effectively contributes to the current public debate on the electoral laws that Parliament is considering. The memo builds on the elections observation conclusions since 2007, by the (former) Advisory Council on Human Rights and later by the CNDH.

The memorandum includes forty-five recommendations for more inclusive elections. It proposes a series of amendments and measures to contribute to achieving the constitutional goals related to parity, between men and women, and greater participation of youth in the political development and the participation of people with disabilities in the process.

The Council also recommends the participation of foreign nationals residing in Morocco in the local elections. This is actually possible under Article 30 (§4) of the Constitution.

The recommendations also concerned the expansion of the electorate, redistricting, reducing the representation gap, strengthening women's access to elective mechanisms and political representation of young people.

Some recommendations concern the legal framework of the neutral and independent observation of elections, fair access to public broadcast media as well as transparency of election campaigns. Other recommendations aim at strengthening participatory democracy mechanisms, in addition to the gender approach, the human rights based approach and the inclusive approach that should be considered in designing regional public policies. These recommendations can contribute to implementing the regional and territorial organization principles provided for in Article 136 of the Constitution.

The memorandum includes, as well, recommendations for the professional elections, particularly strengthening women's representation in the different bodies to represent employees.

Quarante-cinq recommandations pour des élections plus inclusives et plus proches des citoyens

Download the document (available in French and Arabic)