Morocco conservatives win most assembly seats

RABAT, Sep 8 (Reuters) Morocco's conservative Istiqlal party, a member of the kingdom's ruling coalition, won most seats in parliamentary elections, according to provisional results released by the government.

Istiqlal (Independence) won 52 seats including those assigned to a national women's list, ahead of the Islamist Justice and Development party (PJD) with 47 seats, Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa told reporters.

The liberal conservative Popular Movement (MP) and the National Rally of Independents (RNI) won 43 and 38 seats respectively, while the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), Istiqlal's main coalition partner, won 36.

The parliamentary polls were the second of King Mohammed's nine-year reign and saw 33 parties vie with dozens of independents for seats in the 325-member lower house.

A complex voting system made it almost impossible for any group to win an outright majority, and whatever the outcome, real power will remain with the king, who is executive head of state, military chief and religious leader.

The provisional figures showed a record-low turnout of 37 percent, an apparent snub to a political system whose leaders are widely seen as aloof and out of touch.

The PJD earlier accused unnamed opponents of buying votes to skew the results.

Final official figures will be released on Sunday evening.

REUTERS TB RN0140