Moroccan parliament is slow in drafting laws says official from the executive
Morocco, Politics, 2/17/1999

The Moroccan socialist-led coalition government has blamed the bi-cameral parliament for slowness in drafting and adopting laws.

The performance of the parliament's two chambers --the house of representatives (lower house) and the chamber of advisors (upper house)-- was "weak," Mohamed Bouzoubaa, minister in charge of relations with the parliament, told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat daily.

The slowness of the parliament in drafting and adopting laws that accompany Morocco's political evolution is a handicap to the action of the government, he said.

Bouzoubaa specified that during two legislative sessions, the parliament passed only 20 texts out of the 52 drafts submitted to it. He deplored the lack of an earnest dynamism at the two houses.

He announced that the government will hold a meeting before the month of April to assess the work of the executive and legislative branches.

The bi-cameral parliament, which is now in inter-session break, will hold an extraordinary session next March to study a draft law on privatization.

The draft, turned down last January by the chamber of advisors, proposes a 1-year extension of the deadline for the completion of the privatization program until the end of 1999.

Morocco's privatization program which started in 1993 was expected to end on December 31, 1998.

Morocco intended to sell to the private sector some 113 firms by the end of 1998 but by the year's end, only 54 of them were fully or partially privatized, earning the state treasury $ 1.5 billion.

The draft text has been approved by the House of Representatives.

Previous Stories:
  Speaker of German Bundestag ends visit to Morocco   (2/15/1999)
  Youssoufi hails anti-corruption fight   (1/14/1999)
  Future laws announced to update local councils structures and powers   (10/20/1998)
  Moroccan officials outline Morocco's economic and political reforms   (7/2/1998)

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