Morocco conservatives win most seats in parliament

RABAT, Sep 8 (Reuters) Morocco's conservative Istiqlal party, a member of the kingdom's ruling coalition, won most seats in parliamentary elections that opposition Islamists said were skewed by vote buying.

Provisional results showed Istiqlal (Independence) won 52 seats, ahead of the Islamist Justice and Development party (PJD) with 47 seats, Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa told reporters late today.

The PJD had been widely tipped to perform well and had aimed to become the biggest party in parliament, but scaled back its ambitions after polling closed yesterday, accusing its opponents of foul play.

''Dirty money has been flowing into the voting system. We have the proof and we will challenge this,'' PJD deputy leader Lahcen Daoudi told supporters in Rabat early today. ''It is not only sad for us. It is sad for Moroccan democracy.'' The results also looked bad for the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) party, Istiqlal's main coalition partner, which dropped from first to fifth place in parliament.

It had hoped voters would reward it for its part in the government's cautious social and economic reforms.

The parliamentary polls were the second since King Mohammed came to the throne in 1999 and saw 33 parties vie with dozens of independents for seats in the 325-member lower house.

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

VOTERS SNUB POLLS 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.

Washington is looking hopefully to the polls for evidence its campaign for democracy in the Middle East and Africa is helping undermine support for Islamic extremism.

Morocco has seen less of the kind of unrest that besets neighbouring Algeria, where a car bomb today killed 30 people.

Algeria's violence broke out in 1992 when military-backed authorities scrapped parliamentary elections than an Islamist party was set to win.

Many voters appeared more worried about corruption and poverty than religion.

The liberal conservative Popular Movement (MP) and the National Rally of Independents (RNI) won 43 and 38 seats respectively, while the USFP won 36.

Most of the other seats after Friday's vote were divided between many smaller parties and dozens of independents including former deputy interior minister Fouad Ali el Himma, who stepped down from his job last month to run for parliament.

Benmoussa stressed that the results were provisional and could change pending final results on Sunday evening.

REUTERS TB RN0146