Parliamentary elections were held for the first time in Morocco on 17 May 1963. They followed the approval of a

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

in a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

the previous year. The result was a victory for the pro-Monarchy

Front for the Defence of Constitutional Institutions The Front for the Defence of Constitutional Institutions (, , or simply FDIC) was a Moroccan political party founded in 1963 by Ahmed Reda Guedira, friend and advisor of King Hassan II. History The FDIC was created some months after the dec ...

(FDIC), which won 69 seats. However, the two main opposition parties, the

Istiqlal Party The Istiqlal Party (; ; ) is a political party in Morocco. It is a conservative and monarchist party and a member of the Centrist Democrat International and International Democracy Union. Istiqlal headed a coalition government under Abbas El Fa ...

and the

National Union of Popular Forces The National Union of Popular Forces (; , UNFP) was a political party in Morocco founded in 1959 in Morocco by Mehdi Ben Barka and others. It opposed the monarchy and it was closely associated with the labour movement, the student movement (partic ...

, won exactly the same number of seats. Voter turnout was 71.8%. However, in November the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

annulled the results of several seats won by the opposition. By-elections held in January 1964 gave the FDIC control of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

,Ketterer, J
From one chamber to two: The case of Morocco
''Journal of Legislative Studies'', Spring 2001, vol. 7, no. 1, pp.135-150 which was eventually dissolved by King

Hassan II Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scotti ...

in 1965. Indirect elections to the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers (Japan), House of Peers. If the t ...

were held on 12 October, with the FDIC winning 102 of the 120 seats.

Dolf Sternberger Dolf Sternberger (originally ''Adolf Sternberger''; 28 July 1907 – 27 July 1989) was a German people, German philosopher and political scientist at the University of Heidelberg. Biography Dolf Sternberger was born in Wiesbaden in 1907. He is ...

Bernhard Vogel Bernhard Vogel (; 19 December 1932 – 2 March 2025) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was the 4th Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1976 to 1988 and the sec ...

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

& Klaus Landfried (1978) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band II: Afrika, Zweiter Halbband, p1315

Electoral system

The 120 members of the House of Councillors were elected by three electoral colleges; members of provincial and prefectural assemblies elected 80 members, professional bodies elected 35 members (of which industrial workers elected 14, farmers elected 16 and craftsmen elected 5) and business councils elected five.

Results

House of Representatives

House of Councillors

References

{{Moroccan elections

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

1963 in Morocco Elections in Morocco May 1963 in Africa