By RIA Novosti
Cairo : The conservative pro-government Istilqal Party has prevailed in Morocco’s parliamentary elections, depriving a leading Islamic party of an expected victory, the interior minister said.
Istilqal won 52 out of 352 parliamentary seats, despite widespread expectations that hardline Justice and Development (PJD) party would come out on top.
In the elections, PJD won just 47 seats in the lower house of parliament in Friday’s voting, Chakib Benmussa said.
The results are likely to relieve tensions in Washington, which can now rely on a continuity of policy in a leading Muslim state.
Morocco has weathered the storm of America’s war against Islamic terrorism relatively unscathed. Suicide bombings in Casablanca in 2003 and 2007 were the only major terrorist strikes in recent years. It is a moderate Muslim nation that attracts hordes of western tourists.