By Larbi Arbaoui
By Larbi Arbaoui
Morocco World News
Taroudant, Morocco, May 8, 2012
The members of the Moroccan lower house issued a statement banning the use of Tamazigh in the deliberation of the legislative body until further notice.
During a parliamentary session held on Monday, Khadija Rouissi, chairwoman of the session, read a statement stating that Tamazight won’t be used in Parliament until the provision of logistics and human potential for translation from Tamazight into Arabic.
Immediately after last week’s session, in which Tamazigh was for the first time in Moroccan recent history used in parliament, a committee of MP was tasked with the mission of inquiring if the Parliament was equipped for the use of Tamazigh as a second official language. After its deliberations, the committee decided to postpone the use of the language until the House of Representatives takes the necessary measures.
The debate started when Fatima Chahou -known as Tabaamrant,- an (RNI) MP, phrased her question in Tamazight during a parliamentary session.
During Monday’s session, Fatima Chahou was not given the floor to voice her opinion regarding the decision adopted by the Parliament, in an attempt to avoid anything that could cause embarrassment to the chair of the parliamentary session or stir further controversy.
It is worth mentioning that the Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM) were among the main political forces that demanded the constitutionalization of Tamazight before the elections.
