Committee on Petitions and Motions Holds International Parliamentary Seminar on Efficiency of Participatory Democracy

The Committee on Petitions and Motions at the House of Representatives held on Thursday, January 28^th, 2021, an international parliamentary seminar on “The Efficiency of Participatory Democracy.” The seminar, which was held via videoconference, was chaired by the Chairperson of the Committee on Petitions and Motions, Rachid El Abdi. Representatives of the National Assembly of Quebec, the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany “Bundestag,” the British House of Commons, and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, a partner to the seminar's organization, took part in the seminar.

The latter comes as part of the work of the Committee on Petitions and Motions at the House of Representatives, which includes, among other things, reviewing the successful international experiences in participatory democracy to benefit from the best practices in this area to advance the parliamentary management of citizens' petitions and exchange experiences and expertise on the matter.

In his opening statement, Chairperson of the Committee on Petitions and Motions Rachid El Abdi noted that the participation of representatives of friendly parliaments and long-established democratic countries indicates the unquestionable success of the seminar. In the same respect, he noted that it is an ideal opportunity to exchange experiences and expertise on the current parliamentary mechanisms to deal with citizens' petitions and motions and decide their outcome.

Besides, the Chairperson of the Committee on Petitions and Motions shed light on the importance of representative democracy as a source of unity and pride, considering it one of the unanimous constants of the nation. He also noted that participatory democracy complements the representative one as it further stimulates unity and solidarity and creates a social and developmental dynamic. In this context, Mr. El Abdi cited the founding speech of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist him, where His Majesty noted that “However legitimate traditional representative democracy is, we believe it is necessary to complement it with modern participatory democracy. This enables us to benefit from all the national and regional experiences, active civil society and all the living forces of the nation, regardless of their ideologies, currents, or political positions, which are all respected by Our Majesty and they all have their respected opinion in the public sphere, under the rule of law and the State of institutions.”

Mr. El Abdi also highlighted that this founding speech received feedback from the legislators, as it lay the ground for participatory democracy in all its various national and territorial aspects. The House of Representatives accompanied the dynamism of the 2011 Constitution by engaging actively in this great national project. The House’s engagement was also reflected by the address of Speaker of House of Representatives Habib El Malki during the seminar on participatory democracy on February 25^th, 2020, or before that during the communication day with the civil society bodies regarding the engagements of the House of Representatives as part of the Open Parliament Initiative on May 23^rd, 2019. On those occasions, Mr. El Malki shed light on the House's achievements in implementing the provisions of the Constitution relating to participatory democracy. This was done through "creating the Petitions Committee and including a new administrative department in the House's structure, in charge of petitions and motions on legislation, to achieve the concept of an open parliament that interacts actively with the concerns of society, shares widely a culture of democracy, and addresses young citizens.”

For her part, Regional Director MENA Programs and Senior Human Rights Advisor at Westminster Foundation for Democracy Dina Melhem affirmed that this topic is prominent to consolidating participatory democracy in decision-making, considering influencing public policies a cornerstone of healthy democratic practice. In this respect, the action of the Committee on Petitions and Motions at the House of Representatives reflects the vision of the 2011 Constitution. The seminar also comes in the context of utilizing technological developments and participatory platforms imposed by COVID-19 to enable citizens to express their opinion. Therefore, this seminar was an opportunity for experts to exchange their expertise and present various views on participatory democracy following each country's legal and political context.

After that, the representatives of the participating foreign parliaments took the floor to present the experiences of their national parliaments and particularities of the procedures and mechanisms for the submission and examination of petitions. Their statements covered the process of examining petitions, which includes the regulating laws, mechanisms, and structures, the procedures, and methodologies of dealing with citizen's petitions by parliaments, in addition to the outcomes of the petitions and motions, the novel technologies available for the online reception of petitions, the means to communicate between citizens and parliamentarians, and the effect of petitions on public policies.

Later, the Committee on Petitions and Motions gave a brief presentation on the legal and legislative ground of participatory democracy and the Moroccan experience. The Committee also presented its methodology of work, competences, the process of examining petitions and motions, the challenges it faces, and the aspired reforms that may improve participatory democracy, which were presented in the form of parliamentary bills submitted to the Speakership of the House.

Mr. El Abdi concluded the seminar by presenting the recommendations and conclusions. In this respect, he focused on the existence of disparities between countries in the area of submitting petitions and motions on legislation at the levels of regulations, citizens' accessibility to exercising this right, the procedures, and the realization of effective results.

The Committee Chairperson also seized the opportunity to call for the convention of annual meetings to discuss the different procedural, legal, and mechanism-related aspects of petitions and motions on legislation. The meetings would be an opportunity to exchange views and expertise and create a parliamentary network on participatory democracy to exchange experiences and advance the sector. This would be done by gathering maximum approaches to determine the best practices and put together a practical guidebook that includes rules for best practices in participatory democracy. The guidebook would include three aspects, namely the methodology for the practice of this right, the implementation, and the practice outcomes.

The Chairperson also stressed, in the recommendations, the imperative of launching reforms to upgrade the legislation in order to achieve more efficient results and meet the citizens’ aspirations.

Also, he noted the importance of raising awareness regarding the social and political impact of the parliaments' interaction with the petitions and motions on legislation submitted by citizens on creating social and economic balance and bridging the gap between citizens and parliaments, and consolidating their trust in institutions.

Lastly, the Chairperson highlighted the significance of entrenching the awareness about participatory democracy as a key factor in establishing political stability, encompassing social transformations. He also noted the imperative of speeding up the interaction with citizens and defining the different possible outcomes of examining their petitions and motions on legislation.