General Elections: Turnout Reaches 75% in Morocco’s Southern Provinces

Around 75% of Sahrawis in Morocco’s southern provinces have voted in the country’s 2021 general elections, which began last Monday at 8 a.m.

Sahrawis will be allowed to elect their mayors and members to the Rabat-based legislative chamber as a result of the votes.

Videos and photographs of large crowds of individuals campaigning for elections in the southern province of Laayoune have gone viral.

Women and men are seen in some of the photographs celebrating the election results.

Estas imágenes no se verán en España 🇪🇸 Los saharauis participando de forma libre y democrática al Ayuntamiento del Aaiun y a la cámara de representantes en Rabat. pic.twitter.com/gYkDltdWas

— 𝗣𝗲𝗱𝗿𝗼 𝗜 𝗔𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗼 (@altamiranoMLG) September 7, 2021

Pedro Igancio Altamirano, a prominent Spanish political scientist, expressed delight with the strong participation in the southern regions.

During the election campaign, Altamirano, a strong backer of Morocco’s position on Western Sahara, tweeted footage of Sahrawis rejoicing.

“Such photos will not be seen in Spain,” Altamirano declared in one of his postings. The Sahrawis are voting in the municipal council elections in Laayoune and the House of Representatives elections in Rabat in a free and democratic manner.”

Morocco’s ambassador to the United Nations, Omar Hilale, has underlined the country’s efforts to provide rights to indigenous communities in the country’s southern provinces.

Hilale recalled Sahrawis voting in “massive” numbers in past legislative, municipal, communal, and regional elections in Morocco.

He said that the previous elections in Morocco had the greatest voter participation in the country, with more than 65 percent voting.

He claims that this figure is “by no means comparable to the 0.1 percent participation rate in Kabylia, Algeria.”

turnout in the elections reached 50.18% nationwide, according to the ministry of interior.