Decisions of NPC Are Regulatory, Do Not Concern Public Sector Journalists, Including MAP (Official)

The decisions taken by the National Press Council (NPC), which is not a constitutional body, are hardly regulatory in the sense that they govern the work of journalists in the private sector, and do not apply to journalists in the public sector like the Moroccan News Agency (MAP), said the adviser to the minister of Culture, government spokesman for Communication and Information, Khalid Cherkaoui Semmouni.

In a statement to “manabirpress.com”, in response to comments by the president of the NPC, Semmouni said that Law No. 90.13 set out clear powers for the Council, including the establishment of the necessary regulations to guarantee the exercise of the profession of journalist. These, he explained, are internal regulations that concern the body of journalists and the professional organizations to which they belong.

Semmouni made it clear that these decisions do not go beyond the framework of regulatory decisions governing the work of journalists in the private sector, and do not in any way affect journalists in the public sector, such as MAP journalists.

The latter, he said, are considered officials of the Agency subject to its own internal regulations, as stipulated in article 3 of Law No. 89.13 of 27 April 2016 on the Status of professional journalists.

Semmouni added that these regulations are never organizational in nature, as is the case with the regulatory authority, which remains under the exclusive jurisdiction of the government according to the Constitution.

In addition, the adviser noted that the allegation that the NPC is considered a constitutional body is “illogical” and “devoid of any legal basis” for the simple reason that constitutional institutions are exclusively determined by the 2011 Constitution.

This Council is therefore only a press institution with which the government consults in the management of the profession of jounalism when necessary, he concluded.