Speaking at the opening of the 43rd meeting of the Forum of Presidents of Legislative Powers of Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico (FOPREL), which featured the Moroccan national anthem, Ould Errachid stressed the relevance of recent initiatives to strengthen South-South parliamentary cooperation, as well as relations between the Kingdom’s House of Councillors and FOPREL.
He then cited the “Morocco-FOPREL Parliamentary Economic Forum” proposed by the House of Councillors’ Speaker as part of the joint declaration signed in Panama with the Presidents of the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (Parlatino), the Central American Parliament (Parlacen), the Andean Parliament (Parlandino) and the Mercosur Parliament (Parlasur).
Ould Errachid further noted that the Moroccan Parliament’s cooperation with this region of the world is based on well-established principles founded on respect for the sovereignty of States and non-interference in their internal affairs.
He also expressed the House of Councillors’ willingness to promote a parliamentary economic and regional diplomacy based on strengthening cooperation with respective bodies and councils of Latin America and the Caribbean countries.
The Upper House speaker said he was pleased to take part in the meeting of FOPREL, whose members unanimously decided, at an extraordinary session held recently in Rabat, to grant the Moroccan Parliament the status of “advanced partner” within this regional grouping.
This recognition reflects the depth of the relations between Morocco and the countries of the region, and demonstrates a shared desire to promote parliamentary cooperation capable of meeting the challenges linked in particular to migration, food security and sustainable development.
In this context, Ould Errachid cited the Declaration on Advanced Strategic Partnership recently signed with Parlatino, which provides for the coordination of efforts to promote the Africa-Latin America-Caribbean (AFROLAC) Parliamentary Forum process. He also recalled Morocco’s offer to host the AFROLAC summit on April 29-30, on the occasion of the Parliamentary Conference on South-South Cooperation.
With regard to food security, Ould Errachid highlighted the High Vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI in this field, citing the content of the speech delivered by the Sovereign at the 2017 African Summit in Addis Ababa. In this speech, His Majesty the King stressed that food security is one of the main challenges facing the continent.
Furthermore, the Upper House Speaker welcomed the growing momentum of international support for the autonomy initiative under Moroccan sovereignty as the one and only solution to the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara.
In this connection, he praised the fraternal positions expressed by FOPREL at previous meetings in Morocco, notably in the Rabat declarations of 2016 and 2017.
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