Moroccan parliamentarians study visit to the UK

PN member Meg Munn MP was invited to meet members of the finance committee of the Upper House of the Moroccan Parliament when they visited the UK recently to discuss their work. She had visited their Parliament last year to explore how the UK could support their developing democratic process.

Morocco introduced a new constitution in 2011 which increased Parliament's powers over the budget, but various legislative reforms are needed to complete the process. The aim of the visit was to better understand the budget process in the UK, the role of parliament including that of the Treasury Select Committee. They also visited the National Audit Office to understand its relationship to the Public Accounts Committee.

The Moroccan delegation was on a two day visit organised by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD). The visit was part of WFD's programme for the Moroccan parliament funded by the Foreign Office's Arab Partnership Fund.

Meg said:

"I enjoyed meeting the Moroccan parliamentarians and hearing about how parliament has developed since my visit. They were particularly impressed with the work of the Public Accounts Committee, which currently has a high profile in the UK. The programme has given them lots of ideas about how to improve budget oversight in Morocco."