(CNN) -- Moroccans went to the polls Friday in the country's first parliamentary elections since adopting a new constitution following mass protests over unemployment and corruption. Turnout in the North African country was 45%, the Interior Ministry said. Both Parliament and the prime minister have greater powers under the new constitution, while the monarch's sway has been slightly lessened. More than 300 international observers monitored the voting, alongside 3,500 Moroccan observers, the semiofficial Le Matin newspaper reported. Morocco's moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) is expected to do well in the vote. Lise Storm, senior lecturer in Middle East Politics at the University of Exeter in England, told CNN the elections were important because "they are exciting for the first time."NEW: Turnout is 45%, the Interior Ministry saysThe poll is important as a reflection of the desire for change, an analyst saysThe elections are the first to be held since protests forced constitutional reformMorocco has not seen the same major upheaval as some other countries in the region
The elections were first set for September 2012, but they were rescheduled after negotiations between the _, which oversees elections, and some 20 political parties.