Address of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami, at the Award Ceremony of the National Prize for Studies and Research on Parliamentary Action Fourth Edition – 2024

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, Peace and Prayer Upon His Most Noble Messenger

Esteemed Professor El Hassan Boukentar, Chairperson of the Jury of the National Prize for Studies and Research on Parliamentary Action;

Esteemed Professors, members of the Jury; 

Honorable colleagues, members of the Board of the House of Representatives; 

Honorable Chairpersons of the Parliamentary Groups and Caucus; 

Honorable Chairpersons of the Standing Committees;

Honorable Representatives; 

Esteemed Presidents of Universities, Deans of Faculties, Heads of Research Centers and Laboratories, and Coordinators of  master’s degrees programmes; 

Ladies and gentlemen of the media; 

Dear students and researchers among us; 

Esteemed attendees, each in your name and capacity;

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is with immense pride and honor that we gather today at the Seat of the House of Representatives on this momentous scientific occasion that we dedicate to crowning the winners of the National Prize for Studies and Research on Parliamentary Action in its Fourth Edition. 

On this occasion, I welcome you all to this distinguished scientific event that has peculiar and profound institutional connotations and reflects the strong bond between the Legislative Branch and the scientific and academic sphere that supports parliamentary action through the scientific works it produces. 

Ladies and gentlemen, 

The value of specialized studies and research in terms of the knowledge and scientific information they provide is today of paramount importance in most comparative parliaments. In fact, measuring the efficiency of parliamentary action is today, more than ever, bound by the degree of academic and scientific assistance granted to Parliaments. 

Hence, the strong relationship between parliaments and specialized scientific knowledge can be categorized as the most prominent feature of the Parliaments of today, not only because of the growing impact of scientific knowledge on enhancing the internal performance of Parliaments and rendering them further efficient, but also because of its vital role in granting parliamentary action more efficiency, reinforcing the fundamentals of representative democracy, and ameliorating its quality. 

In this regard, we consider that the objective behind the creation of this prize, which we launched in accordance with our Rules of Procedure, is to value distinguished scientific research papers and encourage researchers to focus more on parliamentary studies and tackle new issues and pressing questions raised by the practice, particularly in legislation, control, public policy evaluation, parliamentary diplomacy, and citizen participation. 

Ladies and gentlemen, 

In view of the foregoing, the House of Representatives has always granted this parliamentary openness the interest and farsightedness it deserves, taking into consideration the requirements of our participatory institutional system in terms of continuous development, renewal, communication, and openness on all levels. 

On this basis, we were always aware of the high importance of communication and openness, out of the conviction of the role of scientific knowledge and scientific research and their centrality in achieving progress and development, an awareness that has always been expressed by all the components of the House and embodied by us through the institutionalization of the avenues of academic communication and cooperation with public universities within the scope of an ambitious strategy the House implements to ameliorate its works and anchor its openness to society.

Intending to strengthen this link between parliamentary action and scientific research, we, at the House of Representatives, have always granted special attention to engaging professors-researchers and experts in the various scientific events we organize, which enables the direct and fruitful exchange of ideas between the different actors in the political and academic fields. 

In parallel with that, and in order to reinforce the precise training in parliamentary action, the House pursues its openness to young researchers, opens its doors to them for internships within the House, and provides them with the legislative, control, and evaluation data and information that are necessary for their research. This fact is mirrored in the significant number of student-researchers hosted by the House, who are offered the chance to do their internships and benefit from the services of the Library of the House of Representatives and the guidance of its staff. 

Ladies and gentlemen,

I seize this opportunity to reaffirm the importance of anchoring a scientific approach in parliamentary action under a broader vision of the relationship of our legislative institution with its scientific and academic entourage. I also hope that this prize will encourage researchers to accumulate in-depth studies and research on parliamentary action and reinforce the spirit of creativity, innovation, and scientific understanding of the parliamentary roles in relation to the various economic, social, cultural, and development matters. 

To conclude, I renew my congratulations to the winners of this fourth edition and kindly request that they pursue their specialized research in parliamentary studies with the same earnestness and creativity. I also would like to praise all candidates for this national prize and commend their positive interaction with this initiative and their interest in it. 

I would also like to thank the Chairperson and the members of the Jury who worked on examining and evaluating all the running scientific works. 

May Allah assist us in achieving the good of our country under the wise leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may Allah assist and glorify him.

Thank you for your kind listening.