LOC22:55
19:55 GMT
BRUSSELS, June 21 (KUNA) -- The European Parliament's Foreign Affairs
Committee Tuesday welcomed the constitutional reforms proposed by Moroccan
King Mohammed VI on 17 June and believed they are "a step in the right
direction".
The committee meeting was attended by Moroccan minister for relations with
the Parliament Driss Lachgar.
"These are reforms that other Arab countries could only dream of today. It
is true that they don't meet all expectations of Moroccan protesters but they
go further than we actually had expected", said Belgian MEP Annemie
Neyts-Uyttebroeck who is the EP rapporteur on the participation of Morocco in
EU programmes.
All Committee MEPs present supported the proposed constitutional reforms
but raised their doubts on some sensitive issues such as the new religious
powers of the king, the effective implementation of press freedom rights and
the outstanding conflict of Western Sahara, it noted.
Lachgar explained that "the draft Constitution stipulates freedom in all
the areas, included the right to access information. Yet your concerns mean
that we need to go and rethink this issue in order to guarantee these freedoms
properly". (end)
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