Parliament of Morocco

Parliament of Morocco Parlement du Maroc
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	House of Councillors (upper house) House of Representatives (Lower house)
Leadership
President of the house of Councillors	Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah, Authenticity and Modernity Party Since 13 October 2009
President of the House of Representatives	Rachid Talbi Alami, NRI Since 4 November 2014
Seats	595 members (325) (295 elected in multi-seat constituencies and 30 in national lists consisting only of women) and (270 (elected by local councils (162 seats), professional chambers (91 seats) and wage-earners (27 seats))
House of Councilors political groups	Government coalition      PJD (107)      RNI (52)      MP (32)      PPS (18) Opposition parties      PI (60)      PAM (47)      USFP (39)      UC (23)      PT (4)      Other parties (13)
Elections
House of Representatives voting system	Multi-seat constituency
House of Councilors voting system	Party-list proportional representation
Meeting place
Rabat
Website
www.parlement.ma

The Parliament of Morocco is located in Rabat, the capital of Morocco.

Composition

Since 1996, the national legislature has become bicameral and has therefore two parliamentary chambers:

• The House of Representatives or the lower house. 395 members elected directly for a five-year term.
• The House of Councillors. It is elected indirectly for a nine-year term by two sets of electoral colleges.

The Members of Parliament come from Morocco and the Moroccan-held parts of Western Sahara (under Moroccan law treated as the Southern Provinces).

Reserve power

Part of the reserve powers, the head of State (in this case the King of Morocco) has the right to dissolve the Parliament. In the past, during the "years of lead" under King Hassan II, this right was used extensively, along with suspensions and extensions of terms. Thus, until 1997, not a single elected Parliament was able to complete its term under normal circumstances.[2]

Role

The role of Parliament, and the respect of the monarchy for its integrity, has increased considerably since 1999, when Mohammed VI took the throne. However, the power of Parliament is still being limited as it is the King who appoints the prime minister and on proposition from the latter, the members of government.

See also

• Politics of Morocco
• Elections in Morocco
• List of political parties in Morocco
• List of legislatures by country

External links

• Official website