Board of the House : Legislature (2016-2021):
Board of House of Representatives Holds Meeting on Tuesday, November 24th, 2020
Main topics of the meeting:
- Development programs in southern provinces;
- Parliamentary control plan;
- Legislation, regional and international agreements;
- Parliamentary initiative in legislation;
- Participatory democracy and the exploratory missions guide.
The Board of the House of Representatives held its weekly meeting on Tuesday, November 24th, 2020, under the chairmanship of Speaker of the House of Representatives Habib El Malki. The meeting was devoted to control, legislation, exploratory missions, and participatory democracy.
As regards parliamentary control, and following the provisions of the third paragraph of Article 100 of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the House, the Board has decided to set the agenda of the monthly sitting for questions on general policy addressed to the Head of Government, which will be held on Monday, November 30th, 2020, to cover the topic of “development programs in southern provinces.”
The House's Speaker and the Board members seized this opportunity to affirm the importance of the projects realized in those provinces and the open ones that were launched by His Majesty King Mohammed VI may God glorify him, within a comprehensive development project in the Southern provinces of the kingdom, which opens promising prospects for all southern regions at the economic, social, and infrastructure levels.
The Speaker of the House and its Board also lauded and expressed their pride of the enlightened approach adopted by Morocco under the leadership of His Majesty the King, may God preserve him, in confronting the foes of the territorial integrity. The participants also expressed their consideration for the diplomatic gains at the level of the just national cause.
As for the control work program, and concerning the first half of December, the Board has decided to include the departments of interior, agriculture, and national education in the sitting of Monday, December 7th, 2020, while the sitting of December 14th, 2020 will cover the departments of foreign affairs, African cooperation, Moroccan expatriates, trade, industry, green and digital economy, equipment, transportation, logistics, and water.
Besides, the Board reviewed the activities of the standing committees during the last week. In this respect, they noted the importance of the meeting held by the Finance and Economic Development Committee with the Wali of Bank Al-Maghrib following the provisions of Article 45 of Law 40.17 operating as the statute of Bank Al-Maghrib, and following the requests of the parliamentary groups and caucus.
During the meeting, the Wali of Bank Al-Maghrib gave a detailed presentation on the global and national context and the measures taken by Bank Al-Maghrib to face the crisis and mitigate its impacts on the national economy.
Regarding legislation, the Board reviewed and referred to the Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Islamic Affairs, and Moroccan Expatriates Committee several draft agreements, as follows:
- Government Bill 08.20 ratifying the African Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone Treaty,
- Government Bill 54.20 ratifying the agreement to amend the free-trade agreement between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Turkey,
- Government Bill 59.20 ratifying the agreement on privileges and immunities between the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Government of the United States of America,
- Government Bill 60.20 ratifying the statute of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB),
- Government Bill 45.20 ratifying the African Road Safety Charter.
The Board also referred to the Infrastructure, Energy, Mining, and Environment Committee the following bill:
- Government Bill 71.18 on seaport police.
It also referred to the Internal Affairs, Communes, Housing, and Urban Policy Committee, the following bill:
- Government Bill 63.20 approving the decree-law enacting special provisions to the state of public health emergency and the modalities of its declaration as part of finalizing the related legislative procedure.
Meanwhile, it referred to the Social Sectors Committee the following bill:
- Parliamentary bill on creating the National Agency for regulating the Medical Assistance System (RAMED).
On parliamentary bills, the Board has decided to convene a plenary sitting on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020, to examine and vote on the finalized parliamentary bills. On the same occasion, the Board recalled the parliamentary bills approved by the Government, which amount to fifteen bills, calling ministers and the concerned standing committees to schedule their examination at their earliest convenience.
Concerning participatory democracy, the Board reviewed the two parliamentary bills drafted by the Petitions Committee to overcome the procedural and legal hurdles that hinder the practice of this constitutional right. In this respect, the House's Speaker reiterated the importance of this project that requires agreement between the House and the Government.
As for the interim exploratory missions, the Board reviewed the related guide that regulates their work and the conditions of their creation, system, and structure, in wait for preparing a consensual framework to reinforce this control mechanism and ensure its success.