Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat – Lahbib El Malki, president of the House of Representatives, has declared an all-out war on high absenteeism in the Moroccan parliament, sanctioning 33 members of parliaments who skipped out on plenary meetings of the second session of the 2016-2017 legislative year.
The amendment of the internal laws of the House of Representatives has come into force for the absent parliamentarians, 19 of whom are members of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), who left their seats empty throughout the 2016-2017 legislative year for a net total of 129 days.
The high rate of absenteeism will not go unnoticed, affirmed the House president. An unidentified amount of money will be deducted from salaries of MPs who did not attend parliamentary sessions for three times or more without justifications, reported Moroccan daily Akhbar Al Yaoum.
El Malki has also published a list of MPs who were absent from more than two parliamentary sessions without justification, according to the new provisions of regulations.
PAM is followed by the members of the National Rally of Independents Party (RNI) and the Constitutional Union Party (UC), representing 30 percent. The list also include two members the Popular Movement  Party and one member of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP).
According to the list published by El Malki, the number of days of absenteeism ranged from three to seven days.
Akhbar Al Yaoum reported that if a member of the parliament is absent from a parliamentary session without an acceptable excuse, the president will issue two written warnings, in accordance to Articles 98 and 99 of the House of Representative Law. In case of the member’s absence without an excuse for a third or more sessions, the monthly reimbursement granted to members of parliament shall be deducted according to the number of days they were absent.
In May, the president addressed a warning note to all the leaders of the political parties, calling upon all the parliamentarians for more attendance, especially after the parliament was inactive due to the six months of post-election deadlock.
