The European Union welcomed the parliamentary elections in Morroco which took place on Friday in Morocco as "an important step in the on-going process of democratic reform initiated by the King to respond to the demands and aspirations of the Moroccan people."
An Islamist opposition party emerged the winner of the elections, the second such victory since the beginning of the Arab Spring a year ago.
The Justice and Development (PJD) party won 107 of the country’s 395 seats in parliament, making it the largest bloc, according to official election results released on Sunday. "We are aware that Morocco is a traditional ally of the EU and the US and we have no intention to propose something different," the PJD secretary-general Abdelilah Benkirane told reporters.
In a statement, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and European neighbourhood policy Commissioner Stefan Fuele said: "The newly elected Parliament and future government now face the important challenge of taking forward political, economic and social reforms. We continue to encourage the swift and effective implementation of these comprehensive reforms. Moroccan citizens."
In Tunisia, the Islamists of the Ennahda party also won recent elections while in Egypt the Muslim Brotherhood was largely expected to win a dominant role in the future parliament of the country after Monday’s first post-Mubarak elections.