Islamists see early gains in Morocco polls

RABAT, Sep 8 (Reuters) Opposition Moroccan Islamists running on an anti-corruption ticket said today they were likely to become the largest party in parliament after elections marked by a record low turnout.

But the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) scaled back earlier expectations that it would enjoy a spectacular increase in representation, saying vote buying by political rivals had skewed the result.

The US will be looking at the final poll results with interest, given Washington's fears of a growth in radical Islamism in north Africa and an apparent push by al Qaeda to infiltrate the energy exporting region.

Morocco has seen less of the kind of unrest that besets neighbouring Algeria, where a car bomb today killed 17 people. Algeria's violence broke out in 1992 when military-backed authorities scrapped parliamentary elections than an Islamist party was set to win.

In Rabat jubilation broke out earlier at the PJD's headquarters, with party agents claiming victory and handing out dates and milk, a local custom that usually marks holy events.

Later PJD deputy leader Lahcen Daoudi told supporters the best the party could hope for was 55 seats, more than its current strength of 42 but some way below PJD predictions in the early hours of today that it would win at least 70 seats.

''Dirty money has been flowing into the voting system. We have the proof and we will challenge this,'' he said. ''It is not only sad for us, it is sad for Moroccan democracy.'' Party leader Saad Eddine Othmani said: ''We have proved that money has played a role... We will still be the biggest party.'' The party, which emphasises conservative family values and ethics in public life, a message popular in lower-income urban suburbs, is currently the third largest in the outgoing parliament, with 42 seats.

Political analysts say the PJD could win cabinet seats if it emerges as the biggest party after yesterday's contest between 33 parties and dozens of independent candidates seeking seats in the kingdom's 325-member assembly.

But a complex voting system will make it almost impossible for any group to win a majority, and whatever the outcome, real power will remain with King Mohammed, who combines roles as executive head of state, military chief and religious leader.

No official count has yet been published and final official results are not due out until tomorrow.

COALITION GOVERNMENT LIKELY The polls are the second parliamentary vote under the reform-minded monarch, who ascended the throne in 1999 on a wave of popularity after the iron-fisted rule of his father.

He has spearheaded gradual social reforms but has kept tight control of power. He can nominate anyone as prime minister, irrespective of the election result, and his choice is expected to head a coalition composed of ministers of several parties.

Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa said that at 2330 ist on Friday, turnout stood at 34 per cent and would probably end up at 41 percent -- a record low and below government expectations, he said. The process had been free and fair, he added.

Analysts say apathy is rooted in a belief that parliament is a toothless body made up of politicians from the secular-minded elite who fail to keep the promises they make to get elected.

Mohamed El Yazghi, leader of the biggest single party in the outgoing parliament, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), said late on Friday he believed it had increased its representation, but that abstention was not a good sign.

Foreign investors have turned to Morocco because of its social stability, determination to modernise and integrate its economy into world markets and general openness to foreigners.

Some liberals fear the PJD wants Islamic rule, but the party calls al Qaeda an ''enemy'', and some in the establishment see the PJD's moderation as a religious bulwark against jihadists.

REUTERS LPB RK1810