A key message out of an international seminar in Rabat last week was that Parliament’s relations with the Moroccan people must improve.
The two-day seminar on evolving relationships between lawmakers and citizens across the Arab world last wrapped up last Thursday (June 6th) and was co-hosted by Parliament. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) were the other hosts.
Critics have accused Moroccan lawmakers of being out of touch with the populace, particularly young people.
Citizens want parliament to be “more transparent and respond to their needs and aspirations”, political analyst Jamal Farhane said. “People expect the legislature to debate and pass laws that pertain to them.”
“The Moroccan Parliament has struggled to attract support from the public, especially young people, despite the strengthening of its powers,” Farhane added, alluding to constitutional reforms that gave the legislature more privileges.
Political parties must encourage their MPs to get to grips with the public’s concerns, according to the analyst.
“It is important for young people to get involved in political debates and to feel that politics and the activity of parliament are relevant to them,” Farhane said. “To achieve this goal, it is important to raise the bar in political debating and deal with the concerns of young people.”
In his view, youths can only play an active role in politics, if motivated.
Yet many young Moroccans say they have little interest in following politics.
“The questions and the answers are all equally dull,” student Jamal Chellieh said, referring to parliamentary sessions broadcast on TV. “You get the impression that the MPs are focused on partisan and political interests.”
“Parliament does not appear to be fulfilling its ‘true’ role,” Fadoua Rmiki, a 26-year-old bank employee, echoed. “This is why people are apathetic and have not actively exercised their newfound constitutional right to press for the proposal of new laws via their parliamentary representatives.”
Some MPs acknowledged that Parliament was not living up to people’s expectations or taking full advantage of its new privileges.
“Given the way that the government and the coalition were behaving, parliament appears to be pointless,” Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) First Secretary Driss Lachguer told a press briefing on June 4th.
He called for creating a balance between the ruling majority and the opposition to improve the public’s perception of parliament.
For his part, Chamber of Representatives Speaker Karim Ghellab said that parliament had a duty to legislate and monitor the government, but “it must also pay particular attention to the public’s expectations”.
To improve Parliament’s image in the eyes of citizens, MPs should work at the grassroots level to cultivate stronger ties with the people, according to Chamber of Councillors Chairman Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah.
“Creating a partnership between MPs and citizens is the biggest challenge to be overcome in maintaining the credibility of parliament and regaining the trust of citizens,” he said.
