Address of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami, at the Award Ceremony of the Parliamentary Press Prize Fourth Edition – 2024

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

Esteemed Professor Abdelaziz Romani, Chairperson of the Jury of the Parliamentary Press Prize;

Esteemed members of the Jury, 

Honorable members of the Board of the House of Representatives; 

Honorable Chairpersons of the Parliamentary Groups and Caucus; 

Honorable Chairpersons of the Standing Committees;

Ladies and gentlemen of the media; 

Ladies and gentlemen, 

         Allow me to start this ceremony that we have been accustomed to organizing since 2021 by welcoming you in my name and on behalf of all the components of the House of Representatives. 

         As you may know, the Parliamentary Press Prize was created to crown the journalists interested in parliamentary action by means of recognizing their strenuous efforts and their contributions to promoting parliamentary action and disseminating parliamentary culture. 

         In this respect, I would like to thank the journalists who presented their candidacies for the Parliamentary Press Prize in its fourth edition, which witnessed distinguished participation like the previous editions, thus reflecting the growing interest in parliamentary affairs. 

         I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to the Chairperson of the Jury, Mr. Abdelaziz Romani, and the other members of the Jury: Ms. Nadia Moudden, Ms. Imane Aghoutane, Ms. Maria Moukrim, and Mr. Ahmed Arkam, for their efforts in examining the running works and choosing the winners within a scope of transparency, neutrality, and respect for professional standards.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We, the House of Representatives, reaffirm that we consider national media an essential partner, and we are aware of its role in advancing parliamentary action, particularly amidst a juncture that features major transformations in media, as well as the revolution the world is witnessing in artificial intelligence, which imposes new challenges on the media scene in particular, thus requiring further commitment to the profession’s ethics and more mobilization to counter fake news and other forms of systematic disinformation that threaten democracy. 

Out of keenness to ameliorate the Parliamentary Press Prize and grant it further momentum, and as part of coordination with the House of Councilors, we will work so as to transform the Prize into a Parliamentary Prize that both Houses of the Parliament, the House of Representatives and the House of Councilors, grant to journalists by means of honoring them and recognizing their efforts in following parliamentary action and bringing the legislative institution closer to citizens. 

Hence, we will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the four editions of the Parliamentary Press Prize while taking into consideration the recommendations of the juries that have awarded the Prize since its creation in 2021 and introducing the necessary changes to the law that regulates the Prize in a way that contributes to ameliorating participations and encourages fair competition between journalists and media institutions to win the Prize based on merit and commitment to professional ethics.

Ladies and gentlemen, 

As you are aware, the House of Representatives is a fertile space for debate and dialogue around societal issues that enjoy the interest of the national public opinion. The House preemptively publishes all the information and documents linked to parliamentary action on its online platform in Arabic, Amazighe, French, English, and Spanish, and on social media. The House also commits to an open communication policy through which we aim to enable journalists to reach parliamentary information with the necessary speed and accuracy and facilitate the performance of their tasks in the best conditions. 

The new Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives that the House adopted yesterday represents a new brick in the wall of institutionalizing the relationship between the House of Representatives and media as it devoted an entire Chapter to parliamentary communication and information, thus mirroring the importance the House, with its various components, grants to reinforcing cooperation with media and the press.

To conclude, I congratulate the winners of the Parliamentary Press Prize for this year and wish them full success in their noble missions. By crowning the winners of the 2024 Parliamentary Press Prize, we reaffirm our steadfast conviction of the critical role and the significant contribution of national media to strengthening the democratic edifice of our country and achieving global development in all its dimensions under the wise leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may Allah assist and glorify him. 

Thank you for your keen listening.