Board of House of Representatives Holds Its Weekly Meeting on Tuesday, June 16th, 2020

The Board of the House of Representatives held its weekly meeting on Tuesday, June 16^th, 2020, under the chairmanship of Speaker of the House Habib El Malki. The meeting discussed control, legislation, and the organization of the House's activities.

At the beginning of the meeting, the House's Speaker and the Board members extended their warmest congratulations and wishes to His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God protect him, and to all Moroccan people, for the success of the surgical operation that the Sovereign underwent. They also expressed their great joy and wished His Majesty full recovery and perpetual health and wellness. The participants implored the Almighty to protect the Sovereign, surround him with his providence, and perpetuate his good health and wellness.

The House's Speaker and the Board members seized this opportunity to recall the triumphant journey of His Majesty, which was marked by His devotion to his loyal people, and the successive achievements his Majesty has reached in different sectors of building the country.

During their review of the African context and the Coronavirus pandemic, the Speaker and the Board members commended the nobility of the solidarity spirit reflected by the Royal initiative for African countries, and the noble deeds towards this family to which Morocco belongs, and for which it works, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God protect him, to consolidate cooperation with the brotherly countries, and bear together the encumbrances of the pandemic, create an environment for cooperation, and join forces to mitigate the pandemic's repercussions.

Also, the participants expressed their pride in the achievements of Moroccan enterprises in record time and full compliance with the criteria set by the World Health Organization (WHO), and in which they were empowered by their sincere patriotism, love, and loyalty to this country.

As concerns parliamentary control, the House's Board set the agenda of the next weekly plenary sitting for oral questions to include the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Health, Energy, and Mining, under the format of questions followed by a debate. On this occasion, the Board praised the adopted methodology, which enabled widening the scope of discussion on one theme and having in-depth knowledge of its details.

Regarding legislation, the parliamentary groups and caucus made several initiatives that covered several sectors like health, through a parliamentary bill on the establishment of the National Consultative Council on Health, which was referred by the Board to the Social Sectors Committee. Other legislative initiatives included a parliamentary bill on suspending the increments, fines, and penalties for regions, prefectures, provinces, and communes. The second bill is relative to the tax system of communes, and the third one concerns the tax system of communes and their bodies. The three bills were referred by the Board to the Internal Affairs, Communes, Housing, and Urban Policy Committee.

As for Government bills, the Board reviewed Government bill 63.18 amending and supplementing the Dahir operating as Act on granting some farmers farmlands or agriculture-based lands that fall under the private property of the State. The Board referred the said bill to the Productive Sectors Committee.

Concerning the Amending Finance Bill, the Board pursued its discussion of the relative procedures and measures, through participatory approaches that engage all the concerned parties. Also, the House's Speaker presented the legal and legislative framework and the historical path that similar cases underwent in the parliamentary life. Accordingly, the participants agreed on the importance of building collective consensus to succeed in this legislative juncture that coincides with a very exceptional phase.

The presentation of the House's legislative and control work was a chance to draw lessons from this phase and its potential impacts on several organic laws, and other laws. This adds itself to the project of amending the House's Rules of Procedure. In this respect, the House's Speaker and the Board members stressed the importance of launching the said project during the next period.

Regarding cooperation with research and documentation institutions and centers, the House's Board has decided to conclude an agreement with the High Commission for Planning and its National Center for Documentation. The agreement aims at preserving the parliamentary memory and granting the public access to information, in addition to providing the Center with the electronic documents that the House issues.