These elections are an important opportunity to breathe new life into politics in order to pursue the major structural, political, economic and social reforms launched over the past years in Morocco, MPs pointed out at a meeting of the Committee of the Interior, local authorities and city policy, held in the presence of the Minister of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit, and dedicated to the discussion of bills governing the electoral system.
The MPs also praised the regularity of the holding of the elections, the participatory approach adopted with political parties and the consultations undertaken on the issue of electoral laws.
In this regard, the president of the Justice and Development Party group, Mustapha Ibrahimi, stressed the importance of national mobilization in order to ensure the success of the elections and to strengthen the confidence of citizens in the elected institutions.
He also noted that "no country in the world calculates the electoral quotient on the basis of the registered voters", considering that "the adoption of this mechanism is "contrary to the constitutional provisions, to the sound electoral logic and the best comparative experiences".
Highlighting the qualitative contribution of young people within the House of Representatives, Ibrahimi said that "the regional list stipulated by the bill 04.21 is likely to limit the chances of young people to access the parliament".
"Thus, the group of the Justice and Development party calls for maintaining the representation of young people at the House of Representatives, through the national or regional list", he said, adding that the case of conflict of interest should also concern the presidents of prefectural and provincial councils and not only communities of more than 300,000 inhabitants.
For his part, Abdellatif Ouahbi, of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), called for widening the cases of conflict of interest to also cover the presidents of districts of more than 300,000 inhabitants as well as the ministers, adding that his party will propose an amendment to prevent women MPs who are candidates for the national list from running through the regional lists, the aim being to give other women the opportunity to participate in the political operation.
Ouahbi underlined that his party believes that young people should learn about political action from local authorities and provincial councils in order to interact with issues of interest to citizens' aspirations, hence the idea of cancelling the youth list.
For his part, the representative of the Constitutional Rally group, Mustapha Baytas, stressed that political governance implies the expansion of cases of conflict of interest, given the difficulty of simultaneously exercising the function of parliamentarian and ensuring the management of public affairs with all its problems and difficulties.
The establishment of regional legislative constituencies is an unprecedented step, he said, adding that these constituencies are compatible with the Kingdom's efforts to strengthen regionalization and respond to the issue of the role of local elites in regional development.
Welcoming the contributions of the bills in terms of strengthening the female presence in elected institutions, Baytas insisted on the performance of young deputies and their role in terms of control, legislation and diplomatic initiatives, in addition to new intermediation missions with young categories.
In his turn, the president of the Istiqlal Group of Unity and Egalitarianism, Noureddine Mediane, stressed the importance of strengthening the representation of competent women, stressing that the statistics at the parliament reveal the significant presence of women in the different aspects of legislative action.
The deputy called for the strengthening of this principle with a view to achieving equity, without this being to the detriment of young people, who have made a very significant contribution to Parliament.
As a result, the list of young people cannot be abandoned, he insisted, while calling for formulas to strengthen their presence as well as that of the diaspora.
The president of the Popular Movement group, Mohamed Moubdii, welcomed the contributions of the draft electoral laws, in particular the regional list which strengthens the presence of women and offers the opportunity for regional competences to ensure the management of the local, provincial, prefectural and regional affairs.
The cases of conflict of interest provided for by the draft laws are expected to give the opportunity to new elites who can get involved in political and electoral action, he noted, calling for a wider range of cases of conflict of interest to cover the Provincial Councils and innovate formulas to strengthen the participation of the diaspora in the development of the Kingdom.
For his part, the president of the socialist group Chokrane Amam stressed the importance of the credibility of the political operation and discourse, while underlining the role of the political parties, whose discourse should be based on the electoral programs and projects and on their vision of the Morocco of tomorrow.
The MP noted the significant presence of young people in Parliament, particularly in the work of committees, noting that the expansion of cases of conflict of interest will provide answers on the issue of women and young people and allow the deputy to better accomplish his missions, namely legislation and control of government action.
Aïcha Lablaq, president of the parliamentary group of progress and socialism called for making the next elections a step to breathe new life into democracy, welcoming the novelties introduced by the organic laws governing elections, in particular the amendments relating to the enlargement of cases of conflict of interest and moralization.
She also considered that the promotion of the representation of women at the elected Councils is an approach with a strong symbolic charge, explaining that the regional list offers more opportunities for women to access the parliament.
The MP also called for innovating means and devices guaranteeing the strengthening of youth participation.