By Larbi Arbaoui
By Larbi Arbaoui
Morocco World News
Taroudant, November 27, 2012
The picture of an MP playing “Solitaire” on his tablet during discussions of the draft 2013 Budget Bill in the House of Representatives quickly spread all over social media networks.
At a time when members of parliament were seriously discussing the 2013 budget, the anonymous MP found nothing more serious worth his attention than playing computer games.
A lot of people used social media, such as Facebook and Twitter to express their discontent with the act of playing games in the House of Representatives, a place where supposedly major policies of the state and the concerns of people are being tackled.
Other voices have condemned the behavior, demanding disclosure of the identity of the MP in question.
Most comments on the photo of the MP in question call for his resignation and the need to hold him accountable for “recklessness and apathy” on his part. Other went as far as demanding that he be put on trial for is “insulting behavior, inside the parliament.”
“We demand that he be put on trial and that the trial be broadcast live on TV,” a person commented on the picture on Facebook.
“He should be appointed to honor Morocco in playing cards in international competitions,” another person said.
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” is probably the motto of the game-playing MP. However, citizens would surely not have made a fuss over such things had most MPs been taking the country’s issues more seriously.
To catch parliament members indulging in this sort of carelessness “is not something new in our parliament,” reads a comment, adding that this is not the first time to see Moroccan MPs asleep or in situations seldom observed in Parliaments of countries that respect their electors.
Last April the photo of a female MP who appeared with her shoes off while stretching her legs horizontally inside the parliament, stirred controversy.
The majority of population believes that MP’s never care about their constituencies and their only concern is to achieve their personal goals at the expense of people who voted for them.
The Minister of Finance and Economy presented the 2013 Budget Bill to The House of Representatives and was adopted, late Saturday, with 137 votes against 56.
