Lower House Speaker Calls for Parliaments to Become Active Players in Interfaith Dialogue

House of Representatives’ Speaker Rachid Talbi El Alami called, in Marrakech on Wednesday, for parliaments to become active players in interfaith dialogue to promote coexistence.

In a statement to MAP on the sidelines of a general debate on “Parliaments and religious leaders: promoting dialogue and collaborating for our common future”, Talbi El Alami said that the message addressed by HM King Mohammed VI to the participants in the Parliamentary Conference on Interfaith Dialogue should serve as a guide for parliamentarians “who must contribute to interfaith dialogue, in their capacity as legislators, in order to bring points of view closer together.”

The Royal Message “was very clear and rich”, and included, in addition to a diagnosis, recommendations for the media, who must stop inciting hatred towards others and work instead to build bonds of brotherhood and understanding between nations and peoples, he said.

The Lower House Speaker pointed out that the Royal Message was accompanied by a set of proposals aimed at ensuring the continuity of dialogue between religions, including a proposal to set up a joint mechanism within the IPU whose mission will be to make interfaith dialogue between the different components of the international community a noble common goal, noting that a permanent commission in charge of interfaith dialogue will be set up with the IPU in order to keep this debate open, continuous and in phase with the evolution that societies are undergoing.

Morocco’s choice to host the Parliamentary Conference on Interfaith Dialogue, which is being organized under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, stems from its historical record in this field, stressing that Muslims, Jews and Christians have lived in the Kingdom over the years in an atmosphere of tranquillity and brotherhood.