16/09/2007
Berlin-based Democracy Reporting International (DRI) brought attention to several cases of corruption in its preliminary report on Morocco's September 7th parliamentary elections. In a statement on Friday (September 14th), DRI said many politicians and civil society groups complained of corrupt practices and favouritism towards certain candidates. DRI said the polls were more transparent than the previous ones, but said the final results could be put to question as no detailed vote count for each constituency has been published. The DRI statement comes only a day after local observers also complained about corruption during the vote. "The honesty of the elections was compromised by pressure exerted on large sectors of the electorate, in particular by the illicit use of money, merchandise and promises," a group of 617 Moroccan associations said in its report, adding that the vote counting proceeded according to the rules.