Address of Speaker of House of Representatives Habib El Malki at Opening of Consultative Meeting of Speakers and Representatives of African Parliaments Members of the Pan-African Parliament
Dear Speakers and heads of delegations,
Dear brothers and friends,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me first to welcome you all in Rabat in the Kingdom of Morocco, your second country, among your brothers with whom you share the past, the future, and several bright universal and African values, as well as the journey towards tomorrow.
I would like at the onset of this important meeting to extend to your highnesses the deepest expressions of gratitude and consideration for the enormous attention you give to our African continent, its issues, and its priorities; attention that takes several forms as it is sometimes embodied in your commitment to consolidating bilateral ties of the countries and peoples you represent with the other countries and peoples, and some other times in your active engagement in advancing multilateral action within the various African political, economic, and parliamentary organizations and institutions that gather us.
Your presence today from different African countries and regions, and the long journey you took in these exceptional health circumstances to take part in this coordinative meeting that aims to exchange views on the means for ameliorating parliamentary action within the Pan-African Parliament is a testament to your serious commitment to enabling our institution to play its role in serving the interests of African peoples and preventing any obstacles that would hinder achieving our mutual aspiration of constructing a united Africa at the institutional level; an African continent capable of making its voice heard at the international scene.
The Kingdom of Morocco, since its return to the African Union, its home and family, has resumed the exercise of its right to institutional affiliation within its continent. The truth is that Morocco has never left Africa but only ceased its activity within the "Organization of African Unity," which now bears the name of "African Union" after changes in vision and expansion of horizons. Morocco returned to the Union after the cold war had ended, and the ideological climates prevailing over the world, particularly Africa, had changed. Morocco has also made its return following the insistence, support, and guarantees of its brotherly and friendly countries, keen to preserve the African unity and complementarity of wills.
In this context, I would like to recall the speech of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God protect him, before the African Summit of July 3, 2017, in Addis Ababa, where His Majesty stated, "I have always firmly believed that Africa could turn the challenges it is facing into genuine prospects for development and stability […] Morocco wants to contribute to the emergence of a New Africa: a strong, daring Africa that defends its interests; an influential Africa on the world stage. To shape this new Africa, it is important to shed all illusions and reject any fantasies. The New Africa I am yearning for should be built upon a solid, pragmatic vision that is likely to help forge an initiative Africa that is committed to solidarity.” In the same speech, His Majesty added in full honesty and boldness required by the event, addressing the brothers and friends, “To do this, I believe it is essential for the African States to set realistic, pragmatic objectives based on the continent's real priorities. Africa no longer needs ideological slogans. It needs concrete, resolute action in peace building, security, and human development. Morocco has faith in Africa's ability to reinvent itself and unleash momentum of its own. However, given the obvious limitations of classic North-South cooperation in the bid to rise to the challenge of an emerging Africa, our continent should make greater use of inter-African cooperation and build various strategic and solidarity-based partnerships between sister nations." (Thus ends the speech of His Majesty).
Based on this, I believe that the fragility and weakness of some development projects in several African countries could never be an impediment to achieving the desired African unity and rebuilding the African edifice on new legal and principled foundations.
In addition, the "conspiracy theory" is not, and has never been, a valid explanation to the delay of some African countries in the process of development and engagement in the future. Instead, I consider that one of the most important obstacles to the institutional unity of our continent is the insistence of some parties to prevail narrow political agendas that contradict the objectives of the African Union and its institutions and do not express our collective will to rebuild our prospects and move towards a future that we must all build together.
I regret to note some transgressions within the Pan-African Parliament lately, including the abuse of power by the Acting President, who has used his position unjustly to pass resolutions that serve the political interests of certain States, especially considering that he is supposed to limit himself to conducting business until the election of a new President, following the rules of procedure.
Such acts plainly indicate the absence of institutional control and prove the magnitude of the legal vacuum that negatively affects the credibility of our institution. We must seek to avoid that in the future and to work on taking the necessary responsible decisions so as it does not happen again.
A gravest action is that which took place during the fourth ordinary session of the fifth legislative term of the Pan-African Parliament, held in Midrand between May 20 and June 4. The session witnessed disturbances that contradict the spirit of democratic practice and internal democracy, and infringe on the freedom of the Pan-African Parliament members to choose their president and representatives in the various bodies of this esteemed institution, at a time when we all aspired to remedy the delay in the proceedings of our institution resulting from the exceptional global health situation.
Dear distinguished Speakers,
The recurrence of such irresponsible practices in the Pan-African Parliament risks exacerbating the crisis of confidence between African voters and their representatives. It may also destroy their hopes for an African Parliament that discusses and resolves the problems of the African citizen and embodies the values of democracy, namely freedom of choice and refraining from controlling institutions and directing them to serve personal agendas and state egos that do not serve our great continental project.
Given the many challenges facing our continent, such as climate change, weak economic development, increasing armed and non-armed conflicts, and the aspiration for establishing an African continental free-trade zone and its requirements that include the necessary abolition of borders to ease the movement of people, goods, and commodities, we had to strengthen the role of our institutions to bring these projects to a success and to meet the demands of the juncture and tomorrow's commitments. Thus, the Pan-African Parliament, with the powers, competences, and roles entrusted to it, finds itself today a key actor in the realization of the African integration that we all seek.
The recurring transgressions that taint our work in the Pan-African Parliament force us to reconsider the legal grounds on which rely the organs and committees of our institution in their work; a revision primarily aimed at improving and filling the legal gaps and shortcomings, to consolidate democratic action and enable this esteemed institution to play its role properly.
This meeting is a form of joint African parliamentary action through which we aspire to exchange views to reach a consensus among the participating parliamentary delegations, following the fundamental principles of our esteemed institution and in full respect for the spirit of multilateral parliamentary action.
To achieve this goal, one of the most important proposals we can make is the need to amend the Rules of Procedure to ensure that it prevails over other legal references to avoid any conflict between the laws in force and to eliminate any ambiguity that might obscure the interpretation of some legal texts, which is often exploited by some parties who do not place the mutual interest among their priorities.
I am certain that your valuable interventions and positive interaction in this consultative meeting will enrich the debate and ultimately produce constructive proposals aimed at improving the work of the Pan-African Parliament to achieve the desired African unity and meet the aspirations of our peoples.
Once again, I wish you a happy stay in the Kingdom of Morocco, and I hope this meeting will be a success.