Strasbourg – The Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) considers Morocco, his partner for democracy, as spokesperson for the Council to convey the values of democracy in its region, said on Tuesday President of this assembly, Jean-Claude Mignon, after a meeting with Moroccan Foreign Minister Saad Dine El Otmani in Strasbourg.
“We hope that Morocco can play in the region its role as spokesperson for the Council of Europe to convey the concepts of democracy and rule of law, such as we conceive them here in this pan-European body,” said Mignon, who received El Otmani, accompanied by Minister of Solidarity, Women, Family and Social Development, Bassima Hakkaoui, on the sidelines of their participation in the April session of the PACE.
Morocco benefits, since one year to the Assembly which brings together 318 parliamentarians from 47 member states of the Council of Europe, from the “Partner for democracy” status, established in 2010 to “strengthen institutional cooperation with the parliaments of non-member States of neighboring regions wishing to benefit from the experience of the Council of Europe in democratic reforms and undertake political debate on common issues outside Europe “.
“The Moroccan parliament is the only one to benefit from it (status). This is an interesting experience both for Morocco and for the Council of Europe since there are many countries that want the same status,” he added, noting that this is a partnership where both parties have obligations to take in favor of democracy.
For his part, El Otmani expressed Morocco’s willingness to “meet the requirements of this partnership and to provide it with its experience,” in view of various reforms undertaken in this area.
“Morocco, with its political reforms, the new constitution, the last elections that led to the creation of new government, has become a leader in the region, which may inspire other countries to move forward in the democratization their political life and their reform process,” he noted.
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