A delegation of Moroccan deputies arrived in Johannesburg on Saturday to take part in the work of the ordinary session of the fifth legislature of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), which is being held on June 28 and 29 in the institution’s premises in Midrand, South Africa.
The Moroccan delegation is made up of parliamentarians from several political persuasions, including Aydi Youssef of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), Abdessamad Haiker of the Justice and Development Party (PJD), Laila Dahi of the National Rally of Independents (RNI) , Khadija Arouhal of the Progress and Socialism Party (PPS) and Abahnini Mohamed of the General Union of Moroccan Workers (UGTM).
Mr. Aydi, President of the Socialist Group in the House of Councillors, stressed that this participation aims to enrich the debates and contribute to the success of the work of this new session of the PAP.
The delegation will thus contribute to ensuring the influence of the Pan-African Parliament, by enabling it to play the role incumbent upon it, to respond to the concerns of African citizens and to translate into action the Kingdom’s commitments to promote the development of the continent, he added. -he assures.
“Our participation confirms Morocco’s commitment to efforts aimed at promoting all areas, including legislation, on the continent and this in view of the Kingdom’s avant-garde role within the African family”, declared for his part. Mr. Haiker, vice-president of the PJD group within the House of Councilors.
This parliamentary session will be marked by the taking of the oath for the new members of the PAP, and the Moroccan representatives should participate in the constitution of the various structures of this institution, namely the Presidency, the Bureau and the Standing Committees.
Moroccan parliamentarians will also be able to exchange their experiences with their African counterparts and establish relations with parliamentarians from other countries on the continent.
The President of the Republic of Senegal and President of the African Union (AU), Macky Sall, will preside over the opening ceremony of this session and will deliver a speech on this occasion.
Other participants and speakers include Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the AU Commission and Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of South Africa.
Several new MPs from African countries that have recently held elections will be sworn in as members of the PAP, ahead of the election of the new Bureau of Parliament, scheduled for June 29.
The PAP deputies, who met in June 2021 as part of the fourth ordinary session of the Institution’s fifth legislature, failed to elect a Bureau because of strong differences between them.
The Pan-African Parliament, which is one of the organs of the African Union, is made up of five members per member state that has ratified the protocol establishing it, including at least one woman per member state, and must reflect the diversity of opinions. politicians represented in their own national parliament.
.