Moroccan Parliament to open spring session, amid majority 'silence'

The Moroccan parliament is preparing to open its spring legislative session of the year 2021-2022, starting next Friday.

A number of bills covering various sectors are set to be approved; including the Unified Agricultural Register, a draft law relating to the National Agricultural Research Institute, as well as draft copyright law.

The session will begin on April 15 and extends over more than three months. Thus, opposition parties are expecting the government to make “more serious efforts”, in terms of dealing positively with their draft laws.

“The Moroccan government rejected all the draft laws submitted by the opposition parties, without any explanations or justifications,” said Rachid Hamouni, Head of the Progress and Socialism Party (PPS).

Hamouni expressed his dissatisfaction towards the Moroccan government attitude toward opposition parties’ propositions. “The government has no right to refuse our propositions (…) this is the House of Representatives’ mission only, and the government must only attend the committees’ meetings in order to express its position,” Hammouni told Hespress in a statement.

Hammouni further criticized the government’s silence and non-interactions towards rising food and fuel prices, urging the government to take “full responsibility.”

“Rising prices should be among Moroccan government priorities that must be discussed during the next session, in order to search for practical solutions,” he concluded.

On the other hand, the government reacted to Moroccan concerns regarding rising prices of necessary products, saying that the situation is “imposed” by the global context, including geopolitical tensions.

The government further noted that it has put in place an adapted socio-economic strategy that would respond to citizens’ demands.

In 2021, the previous government, led by Saadeddine El Othmani, interacted with 13 propositions, while more than 200 bills were rejected.