Agadir 24 | Agadir24/UAE
The second session of the legislative year 2023-2024, which will open tomorrow, Friday, includes many stakes and undertakings, the most important of which is the approval of the Parliamentary Code of Conduct and Ethics, in implementation of the high royal directives contained in the message addressed by His Majesty King Mohammed VI to Parliament on the occasion of the commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of its establishment.
In this message, His Majesty called for “revitalizing parliamentary life by adopting a code of ethics in the legislative institution in its two chambers that has a binding legal nature, and achieving harmony between the practice of representative democracy and participatory democracy.”
His Majesty also stressed the need to give priority to the higher interests of the nation and citizens over other partisan accounts, raise the quality of parliamentary and elected elites, and enhance women and youth’s greater access to representative institutions, as they are among the most prominent challenges of improving parliamentary work.
During the period between the two sessions of Parliament, the components of the House of Representatives and Advisors devoted themselves, in implementation of the royal directives, to preparing and drafting the code to bring it into existence as soon as possible, given its urgency and importance in improving parliamentary practice and enhancing its performance.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rashid Talbi Al-Alami, confirmed that all components of the Council “are mobilized in order to implement what was stated in the Royal Message regarding the creation, elevation and improvement of parliamentary work, in order to consolidate the maturity achieved by parliamentary work and advance the democracy of representative institutions.”
In the speech he delivered at the end of the first session of the current legislative year, Talbi Alami stressed the keenness of the House of Representatives Office, along with the heads of the parliamentary teams and group, to open workshops on the Parliamentary Code of Ethics “to be at the level of the aspirations of His Majesty the King in what is due to continuing to improve parliamentary practice.” And to give priority to the public good, and to be one of the highest codes of ethics and behavior approved in national parliaments, and to have a positive impact on public opinion.”
Mr. Talbi Al-Alami explained that the new requirements aim to control a number of practices and situations, through the sublime commitment to the duty of serving the public good, setting an example in political behavior and practice, and performing the duty with a positive, productive presence, considering that this “will contribute to spreading the values of democracy, consolidating the rule of law, and consecrating A culture of dialogue and enhancing confidence in institutions, as emphasized by His Majesty.”
The same spirit of seriousness characterizes the work of the Council of Advisors, as the Speaker of the Council, Al-Naam Mayara, confirmed that the latter “is dedicated to studying the issues and problems associated with determining the topics of this code, its pivotal references, and the best way to adopt it, within the framework of due coordination with the House of Representatives.”
Mr. Mayara highlighted that the Council of Advisors, with all its political, union and professional bodies and components, “is fully aware of the paramount importance of the Code of Ethics, in the process of developing the performance of the legislative institution, and promoting and consolidating the values of integrity and transparency.”
In this context, the Council’s office emphasized, in a statement, the goals served by the Code, which are “promoting and consolidating the values of integrity and transparency, reducing conflicts of interest, and elevating parliamentary behavior, as it is issued by the representatives of the nation,” stressing “keeping pace with the Council from its constitutional position and from “Based on its legislative, oversight and evaluation powers, it covers the major reform projects and structural projects led by His Majesty the King.”
Regarding the political and legal debate surrounding the parliamentary code of ethics, Abdelhafid Adminou, professor of public law at Mohammed V University, said in a statement to the Maghreb Arab Press that what is important in this debate is its connection to two contexts: The first relates to downloading the royal message in order to make moral rules binding legal rules to the same degree as other legal texts.
The second context is related to “the prosecutions against a group of parliamentarians, whether related to crimes related to public rights, for which the parliamentarian bears his civil and criminal responsibility in accordance with the legal rules in force, or what is related to the prosecutions to which parliamentarians were subjected in relation to public funds, especially those related to Their responsibility at the level of other mandates, especially in the elected councils.”
The university professor noted that these judicial follow-ups “demonstrated that it is necessary to adopt some rules and mechanisms through which the influence on the parliamentary institution can be reduced,” considering that “pursuing a parliamentarian and his involvement in crimes or financial violations does not only question the image of the parliamentarian but also the image of the institution and the parliamentary elites.”
He concluded by saying: “The process of creating parliamentary practice is essentially linked to a comprehensive perspective of reforming and creating political practice and confidence in the political process,” noting that “there is a great effort being made to strengthen the legal and legislative side, which essentially guarantees parliamentary practice in accordance with the legal rules and guarantees provided by the two internal systems.” To the legislative institution regarding the ideal behavior of a parliamentarian.”
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2024-04-14 03:33:59