MEPs Challenge Morocco Parliament on Human Rights
Without a shred of irony, the Moroccan parliament has played the victim card with MEPs in Brussels and Strasbourg over the European Parliament’s colder and more objective treatment of Morocco, despite the latter bribing members of the EU institution for well over a decade.
The move is likely to usher in a new low period of relations between Rabat and the EU and could well even be the basis of a divorce in the future, given that MEPs are holding Morocco to account now on human rights – a situation sure to vex the Rabat elite no end and one which will sour relations.
Morocco’s parliament on January 23rd unanimously condemned the European Parliament’s (EP) report on press freedom in the North African kingdom and decided to reconsider its ties with Strasbourg and subject them to a comprehensive evaluation.
During a joint plenary session of the two Houses of Parliament, political parties and trade unions categorically condemned the EP’s report, reiterated their trust in Moroccan institutions, including the judiciary and demand respect of the country’s sovereignty.
A corruption scandal involving European Parliament members that erupted last month shook EU circles in Brussels.
In a non-binding text adopted the week before MEPs urged Morocco to “respect freedom of expression and media freedom” and to “guarantee imprisoned journalists… a fair trial.”
“The Parliament of the Kingdom of Morocco, with its two chambers, condemns the malicious campaign that our country has been exposed to, the latest development of which was the European Parliament’s vote on a recommendation on January 19, 2023, and notes with great astonishment and indignation this recommendation, which destroyed the levels of trust between the Moroccan and European legislative institutions, and profoundly touched the positive accumulations that took several decades to achieve,” said a statement read out by parliament speaker Rachid Talbi El Alami.
“The Moroccan Parliament regrets that the European Parliament has acquiesced to some hostile parties within it and lured it into their misleading campaign targeting a long-standing and credible partner that plays major roles in protecting rights and freedoms and defending regional and international peace and security, and is considered a pillar of stability and a support for good neighbourliness and understanding between peoples, civilizations and cultures,” said the statement.
The Moroccan Parliament strongly condemned the hostile attempts to harm Morocco’s interests and image, and the distinguished and long-standing relations between Morocco and the European Union, which are based on common values, principles, and mutual interests.
It also considered the EU’s recommendation an unacceptable transgression of its competences and powers, and an unacceptable encroachment on its sovereignty and the sanctity and independence of its judicial institutions, expressing its absolute rejection of guardianship tendencies or taking lessons from any party, regardless of the level of relations it has with the North African kingdom.
The Moroccan Parliament, with all its components and political spectrum, expressed its disappointment at the “negative attitude and non-constructive role” played, during the discussions in the EP and the consultations on the draft recommendation against our country, by some political groups belonging to a country that is a historical partner of Morocco.
The Moroccan Parliament said it “does not need to reaffirm” the kingdom’s adherence to human rights as they are internationally recognized.
“The Kingdom is distinguished in its regional environment by the dynamism of its civil society, the vitality of its media arena, the credibility of its independent and effective institutions and mechanisms in the field of the rights of individuals and groups, as well as its active commitment to relevant international covenants, and its willingness to move forward in consolidating and strengthening the state of institutions within the framework of partisan and political pluralism as well as freedom of opinion and expression,” said the statement.
