EU-JDID continues to support the development of the parliamentary blocs in Jordan. A delegation of three Moroccan parliamentarians were invited by the project on October 30th and 31st when they shared successful experiences and practices from the Moroccan Parliament with colleagues form the Jordanian House of Representatives during a seminar.
The main focus of discussion was on the Moroccan transition to parliamentary government in the last years. The Moroccan MPs provided presentations about the roles of parliamentary majority and opposition, parliamentary groups and their role in the plenary sitting, and in the standing committees.
A debate on the Moroccan model of parliamentary group organization addressed the issues of the parliamentary group strategy in the House, ideas and ideologies, linkages with political parties, leadership of the group, division of tasks, and visibility of parliamentary groups. From their part, the Jordanian MPs presented their challenges in the development of the parliamentary blocs, reflecting on the possible paths forward and the opportunities that electoral reform and the upcoming parliamentary elections in 2020 represent.
The Moroccan delegation is composed of senior parliamentarians who belong to the government parliamentary majority, as well as the parliamentary opposition: H.E. Mr Khalid Boukarai, from the ruling Justice and Development Party, H.E. Ms Fatima Ezzahra NAZIH, from the Popular Movement, and H.E. Mr Salek BOLON, from the opposition Istiqlal Party
On the second day, a #roundtable was held on “Enhancing #Women #Political #Participation – Lessons from Jordan and Morocco”. During the event, H.E. Ms. Fatima Ezzahra NAZIH, Member of the Moroccan House of Representatives for the Popular Movement Party, shared her views and experiences on female participation in politics in Morocco and on the position of #female Members of the Moroccan House of Representatives.
Particiapnts from both Parliaments discussed the challenges for women political participation in terms of balancing #career and family life in a traditional political culture; opportunities of women political participation for advancing daily life of women and #girls in #education, business and politics.