Low numbers of young people voting in the recent general election (7 October) reflect their lack of interest in the country’s politics. Unusually for the Arab world, Moroccan elections have the merit of not being entirely predictable because the 'dirty tricks' department of the Ministry of Interior has reined in its activities in recent years. King Mohammed VI is understood to want a genuine political arena to develop, in order to balance, if not counterbalance, the ultimate political authority which he still enjoys. The 2011 general election victory of the Islamist-led government of the Party for Justice and Development (PJD) was seen as an experiment in affording greater executive leeway to a popularly elected party. 43% of eligible voters participated in last week’s election but many young voters did not participate, seeing little merit in the elite club of political interest groups and lobbies constituting most of the thirty political parties that contested the ballot.