Morocco Parliament Installs High-Tech Cameras to Combat Absenteeism

The President of the First Chamber, Rachid Talbi Alami, is making the fight against absenteeism of deputies a priority. He and the members of his office have had new generation cameras installed within the Parliament, which will allow them to track down the absent, reports Assabah. There is also a question of fighting against fraud, in case some parliamentarians would come to record in the punch clock the magnetic card of one of their peers, in order to "cover" his absences during the sessions devoted to the vote of bills, it is specified.

Before taking this measure, the identity of the absent was revealed at the beginning of each session. Certainly, this measure has borne fruit, but it is not to the liking of certain parliamentarians. This provoked the anger of Rachid Talbi Alami, at the last meeting of his office, as well as during a conference with the presidents of the parliamentary groups. He expressed his surprise at the reaction of certain deputies. This decision is "in accordance with the provisions governing parliamentary work," explained the President of the First Chamber.

He also added that it is also an effective means of fighting against practices he described as "immoral", such as the falsification of attendance lists, especially during sessions dedicated to the vote on legislative texts. To support his argument, "Rachid Talbi Alami challenged anyone claiming the contrary to prove that the 301 deputies registered as "absent" during the last voting session of the draft law on the film industry were, in fact, "present"". In reality, "the result of this vote shows that only the votes of 94 deputies, from the majority and opposition parties, were recorded."

The presidents of certain parliamentary groups have also asked the Bureau of the House of Representatives to implement, "with rigor", deductions from the remuneration of absent deputies...