House of Councillors Unanimously Adopts Bill to Reorganize the National Press Council

The Haraki Group, the Socialist Group, Ittihadi Opposition, the Moroccan Workers’ Union Group, the Democratic Confederation of Labour Group, as well as councillors from the National Labour Union in Morocco, all withdrew from the session.

Speaking on behalf of the opposition, the president of the Moroccan Workers’ Union Group, Noureddine Salik, said that “the opposition remains committed to the amendments without withdrawing them,” reaffirming in this regard the request submitted to the President of the House to refer the bill to the Constitutional Court and to send it back to the parliamentary committee, in accordance with Article 217 of the Rules of Procedure, for a new reading.

For his part, the Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, outlined the main features of the bill, stressing that it is not a simple legislative text added to the national legal framework, but rather a pivotal step in the process of modernizing and developing the media landscape, and a fundamental pillar for strengthening the rule of law through the consolidation of the principles of good governance and transparency.

The minister also recalled the context of the first experience of self-regulation of the journalism profession, explaining that “after years of reflection and a cumulative process that led to the establishment of the profession’s self-regulatory body, nationally recognized figures in the media field took part in this process.”

He went on to say that this first experience revealed legal shortcomings as well as demands from professionals themselves for a revision of the legislative text, which led to the creation of a provisional commission, as an extension of the former National Council, which worked for two years to assess the press and publishing sector in the country.

This commission was tasked with developing a comprehensive vision for the Press Code and conducted consultations with all professional organizations, in accordance with the law that established it, before submitting its vision to the government within the legal deadlines, he added, noting that the government drafted the bill on the basis of the provisional commission’s vision, in line with the principle of self-regulation of the profession.

Mr. Bensaid recalled that the law aims to strike a balance between freedom of the press, as guaranteed by the Constitution, and the need to respect the rules and ethics of the profession, while addressing legal gaps, notably through the creation of a supervisory commission tasked with independently and autonomously managing the electoral and representative process of journalists and publishers, as well as the introduction of a new voting system at the request of professionals.

Editorial team/le7tv