A Moroccan source said that 30 parliamentarians from various political parties, whether from the government coalition or the opposition, are accused of corruption cases related to the municipal responsibilities assigned to them.
The source explained that these charges cover embezzlement of public funds, extortion, falsification of public documents, and tampering with deals, and different courts decide on these charges.
These developments came at a time when the Moroccan Parliament recalled the instructions of King Mohammed VI, which he issued at the beginning of this year on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of the legislative institution, where the King called for “the creation of parliamentary life by adopting a code of ethics in the legislative institution and achieving harmony between the practice of representative democracy and democracy.” Participation, and raising the quality of parliamentary and elected elites.”
According to the Moroccan newspaper “Al-Sabah”, the previous number of accused parliamentarians was 25, most of whom headed municipal councils. The court acquitted two of them, one of whom is still exercising his parliamentary duties, while the other decided to stay away from political work.
The newspaper attributed the large number of representatives who are pursuing their cases before the courts to the accumulation of positions, as a number of them hold local positions, and in this regard, various violations were revealed, particularly related to cases of tampering with local budget funds.
The newspaper explained that among the accused MPs, some of them were subjected to seizure of their personal funds, while others were banned from traveling. Some claim that the accusations against them result from complaints motivated by revenge against their political rivals.
Investigations against the accused are based on reports from the General Inspectorate of Territorial Administration, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Regional Boards of Accounts, and associations for the protection of public funds.
In this context, lawyer Mohamed Al-Glousi, President of the Moroccan Association for the Protection of Public Funds, said that the judicial prosecution of 30 parliamentarians on charges related to embezzlement and squandering of public funds is a precedent in the history of the Moroccan Parliament.
Al-Ghalousi stressed in a post on Facebook the need to work seriously to enact a legal system to combat corruption, bribery, and the plundering of public money, and to criminalize illicit enrichment and conflicts of interest.
Observers called for a reconsideration of some aspects of the elections and a review of the laws regulating municipal councils to prevent the continuation of these practices, stressing the need to take strict measures to combat corruption and enhance transparency in political life.
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