Morocco’s King to virtually open parliament’s autumn session

RABAT – Morocco’s King Mohammed VI will deliver the inaugural royal speech at the opening of parliament’s autumn session via videoconference as the North African kingdom is fighting the spike of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Moroccan monarch’s speech will be broadcast from the Royal Palace in Rabat, a first in the country’s history.

Not all lawmakers will be present at the opening of the four-month session. But both chairmen of the parliamentary groups, members of the various committees of the two Chambers of parliament, will be attending the inaugural session along with government officials.

As parliament returns, lawmakers will be legislating on many important issues, including the upcoming elections, during which the government should present the laws amending the electoral laws, and the finance bill that had been rectified in order to help stem the severe economic crisis that has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Morocco’s economy shrank by 8.7% in the third quarter of 2020, a less pronounced decline than in the second quarter (-14.9%), according to the High Commission for Planning (HCP).

“In the third quarter of 2020, the easing of lockdown measures would have allowed a slight recovery in activity and the decline in growth would have been less pronounced than in the previous quarter,” said the HCP.

“This development would be attributable to the drop of 9% in non-agricultural value added, instead of -15.5% a quarter earlier,” it added.

The tourism sector, which is one of the worst hit during the pandemic, has reportedly recovered slightly following the relaxation of restrictions on domestic travel, but it has continued to suffer from the decline in the flow of foreign tourists and the decline in travel receipts, according to the HCP.

Morocco now has a total of 137,248 confirmed coronavirus cases and 2,410 deaths.