Adopted on Tuesday by a majority vote during a plenary session in the House of Representatives (117 deputies in favour, against two abstentions), this proposal to amend the internal regulations of the first Chamber of Parliament will also help to strengthen confidence in elected institutions and give a good image of the level of maturity reached by political practice.
The acceleration of the process of amending the internal regulations comes in application of the High Royal Guidelines contained in the Message addressed by His Majesty King Mohammed VI to the participants in the symposium marking the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the constitution of the first elected parliament, in which the Sovereign stressed the importance of “moralizing parliamentary life by adopting a legally binding code of ethics for the two Chambers of the legislative institution”.
In interaction with the High Royal Directives, the office of the House of Representatives has looked into the development of a code of conduct and ethics in line with the aspirations of the Sovereign and all citizens, through the amendment of 13 articles which define the principles governing parliamentary practice, the duties and rules of conduct relating thereto, and put in place mechanisms capable of compelling deputies to comply with these principles and standards inside and outside the House.
In order to ensure optimum compliance with the Code, an amendment was introduced to Article 68 of the House’s Rules of Procedure, which provides for the creation of a special committee at the beginning and in the middle of each term, composed of four members, two of whom belong to the opposition, and responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Parliamentary Code of Ethics.
The Ethics Committee is empowered to conduct investigations into possible violations under the Code and to provide advice to the Bureau and any member of the House.
The said committee is required to submit recommendations on each matter to the office of the House and to prepare an activity report, at least every legislative year.
Speaking during the voting session, the parliamentary groups of the majority and the opposition emphasized the importance of this code and its role in improving and moralizing parliamentary action and consolidating the values of probity, responsibility and transparency.
In this sense, the group of the National Rally of Independents, assured that the Code of Ethics and Moralization of Parliamentary Life does not tend to limit the prerogatives and attributions of the members of the House of Representatives, but rather aims to organize and improve the way in which they exercise their functions, consolidate the democratic choice, and strengthen trust between the citizen and the legislative institution.
The concept of parliamentary moralization arose with even greater acuity after the Royal Message addressed to the participants in the Symposium commemorating the 60th anniversary of the constitution of the first elected Parliament in Morocco, he noted, specifying that this requires everyone to work for the realization of the High Royal Orientations in order to restore the confidence of citizens and immunize the institution of Parliament.
For its part, the Istiqlalian group of unity and egalitarianism noted that the House of Representatives, in application of the High Royal Guidelines, approved the Code of Parliamentary Ethics to further moralize parliamentary practice, capable of contributing to the consolidation of confidence in elected institutions.
The House of Representatives, he added, wanted to interact immediately with the High Orientations of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, through the establishment of a special committee responsible for monitoring the application of the Parliamentary Code of Ethics.
The Haraki group, for its part, considered that the Parliament had adopted an “inclusive” Code of Conduct and Ethics, calling for the optimal implementation of this Code to further consolidate confidence in the legislative institution.
As for the Progress and Socialism group, it noted that the House of Representatives took the initiative, in accordance with the High Royal Guidelines, to introduce new amendments to the Code of Conduct and Ethics within the framework of a participatory and consensual approach, “which reflects a political and institutional maturity of all components of the House.”
In the same context, the parliamentary group for Justice and Development stressed the importance of this Code, and the role of political parties in the supervision, support and choice of candidates, calling for further strengthening of the role of the legislative institution.
Strengthening the normative and legal framework governing the action of parliamentarians in the exercise of their mandate contributes to improving parliamentary action and raising its level, both in terms of legislation, control, evaluation and parliamentary diplomacy, which has now become one of the important missions of the legislative institution, said Ahmed Bouz, professor of constitutional law and political science at the Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences – Souissi.
In a statement to MAP, Mr. Bouz considered that the amendment of the internal regulations intervenes to strengthen the rules of conduct of parliamentarians, taking into account the content of the Royal Message, and the need to strengthen the fight against certain practices which have led to an unprecedented number of prosecutions against parliamentarians who have been stripped of their mandate.
Regarding the introduction of provisions related to ethics in the internal regulations of the House of Representatives instead of developing a separate Code, the academic considered that this issue does not pose any problem in itself, at least, from a political point of view and in terms of implementation effectiveness, emphasizing the importance of political and cultural practice and the profile of parliamentarians in consolidating the moralization of the legislative institution.
2024-09-22 07:15:43