RABAT, Morocco, July 2 (UPI) -- Moroccan voters overwhelmingly approved constitutional changes giving some of their king's powers to a prime minister, officials said Saturday.
Interior Minister Taieb Cherqaoui, speaking at a news conference, said the vote was 98.5 percent in favor of the changes, the government news agency Maghreb Arab Press reported. He said turnout was high Friday, ranging from about 60 percent in some regions to more than 90 percent.
King Mohammed VI proposed reducing his own role in response to demonstrations calling for change, the BBC reported. The king remains in command of the military, the judiciary and religious authorities but the prime minister will have executive power.
The results reported Saturday were not official and did not include the votes of expatriate Moroccans, Maghreb reported, although the lopsided total suggests no doubt about the outcome.
Mohammed said nothing as he voted Friday in Rabat, the BBC reported.
