(9 Sep 2007) SHOTLIST
1. Fountain in Rabat
2. Tower with fountain in foreground
3. Man looking at newspaper stand
3. Various of man reading the newspaper; headline (French): " Preliminary results give the Istiqlal party the lead"
5. Various of man reading a newspaper
6. SOUNDBITE: (French) Abdullah, Morrocan: " I wasn't certain that there would be a PJD landslide. All that was speculation, things were overestimated."
7. Various of newspaper stand
STORYLINE:
Voters in Morocco deprived an Islamist party of an expected parliamentary victory on Friday, handing it instead to the conservative Istiqlal party, according to preliminary results announced on Saturday.
In a surprisingly strong showing, Istiqlal, of the ruling government coalition, won 52 seats in the lower house of parliament, Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa said.
The results of Friday's vote - marred by a record-low turnout of 37 percent - meant continuity for the North African kingdom, which is an important U.S. ally in the Arab Muslim world.
The Islam-inspired Justice and Development Party, or PJD, whose growing strength in recent years had worried its secular rivals, had 47 seats.
One Rabat resident, Abdullah, told AP Television that he was never "certain there would be a PJD landslide", as some had predicted.
Final authority in Morocco rests with King Mohamed VI, who will name a prime minister based on the election results.
The prime minister will then name a government, likely to be a grand and awkward coalition that would include the PJD for the first time.
The centre-left Socialist Union of Popular Forces, or USFP, which won the last elections in 2002 and ruled together with Istiqlal, dropped to fifth place with 36 seats.
The centrist Popular Movement and RNI parties were in third and fourth, with 43 and 38 seats.
A dizzying total of 23 parties and five independents will serve in the new parliament, Benmoussa said.
The PJD accused the ruling secular parties of appealing to voters with hasty public works projects - and even buying votes - to thwart its predicted victory.
But the interior minister insisted the vote was "transparent" and "clear." He acknowledged several irregularities, including people voting twice in different districts, but said such incidents were "limited."
The PJD has garnered strength in recent years by tapping disillusionment with a government seen as increasingly distant from voters' needs, focusing on the poor and jobless youth.
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