Parliament of Morocco in the context of "Assembly of Representatives of Morocco"

Politics of Morocco take place in a framework of an official parliamentary semi-constitutional islamic monarchy, whereby the prime minister of Morocco is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Assembly of Representatives of Morocco and the Assembly of Councillors. The Moroccan Constitution provides for a monarchy with a Parliament and an independent judiciary.

On June 17, 2011, King Mohammed VI announced a series of reforms that would transform Morocco into a constitutional monarchy.

The prime minister of Morocco, officially head of government (Arabic: رئيس حكومة المملكة المغربية), is the head of government of the Kingdom of Morocco. The prime minister is chosen by the king of Morocco from the largest party elected to parliament, usually the general secretary of that party. The Constitution of Morocco grants executive powers to the government and allows the head of government to propose and dismiss cabinet members, provincial governors, and ambassadors, to oversee government programs and the delivery of public services, and to dissolve the lower house of parliament with the king's approval.

A newly appointed prime minister is responsible for forming the government it will head by leading negotiations between the king and parliament to fill ministry positions. Until the new government is approved by the king and formally takes office, parliament approves and oversees government programs and public service. There are no constitutional limits on a prime minister's term, and several have served multiple non-consecutive terms.

The House of Councillors (Arabic: مجلس المستشارين [maʒlis al-mustaʃaːriːn], Standard Moroccan Tamazight: ⴰⵙⵇⵇⵉⵎ ⵏ ⵉⵏⵙⴼⴰⵡⵏ, romanized: Asqqim n Insfawn) is the upper house of the Parliament of Morocco and has 120 members, elected for a six-year term:

• 72 members are elected at the Kingdom's regional level - they represent the regions and the subnational administrative areas (French: collectivités territoriales)
• 20 members are elected in the regions by a single electoral college made up of all those in the relevant region that have been elected to the following professional associations:
  • the agriculture associations
  • the commerce, industry and services associations
  • the arts-and-crafts associations
  • the marine-fisheries associations
• 8 members are elected nationally by an electoral college made up of those elected from the most representative employers' professional organizations
• 20 members are elected nationally by an electoral college made up of employees.

The 2011 Constitution of Morocco retained this second chamber, but reduced its term of office from 9 to 6 years and its size to 120 seats.

The Constitution of Morocco is the Basic Law of the Kingdom of Morocco. The constitution defines Morocco as an Islamic constitutional monarchy and lays out the fundamental rights of Moroccan citizens, it also defines the basis and structures of government, the council of ministers, and the parliament.

The first Constitution of Morocco was adopted in 1962, 6 years after the country regained independence. From and following that event, the King Mohammed V worked for the establishment of political and constitutional institutions. The National Advisory Council originally created the legislation text governing public freedoms and freedom of expression, known as the Dahir, which was enacted on November 15, 1959. In 1960, the Constitutional Council was established, and the first Constitution was proposed on November 18, 1962. This draft was ratified through a referendum on December 7, 1962, and was finally promulgated one week later, on December 14.

Elections in Morocco are held on a national level for the legislature. Parliament has two chambers. The Assembly of Representatives of Morocco (Majlis AL-Nuwab/Assemblée des Répresentants) has 325 members elected for a five-year term, 295 elected in multi-seat constituencies and 30 in national lists consisting only of women. The Assembly of Councillors (Majlis al-Mustasharin) has 120 members, elected for a six-year term, elected by local councils (162 seats), professional chambers (91 seats) and wage-earners (27 seats).

Morocco has had a multi-party system since independence in 1955, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. Since Morocco considers Western Sahara as part of its territory and administers large parts of it, the elections are also held there.

A referendum on constitutional reforms was held in Morocco on 1 July 2011, called by the king in response to a series of protests across Morocco that began on 20 February 2011 when over ten thousand Moroccans participated in demonstrations demanding democratic reforms. A commission was to draft proposals by June 2011. A draft released on 17 June foresaw the following changes:

• requiring the King to name a Prime Minister, renamed Head of government, from the largest party in Parliament;
• handing a number of rights from the monarch to the PM, including dissolution of parliament;
• allowing parliament to grant amnesty, previously a privilege of the monarch;
• making Berber an official language alongside Arabic

The changes were reportedly approved by 98.49% of voters. Despite protest movements calling for a boycott of the referendum, government officials claimed turnout was 72.65%.