HIBAPRESS – Rabat
The Secretary-General of the Popular Movement Party, Mohamed Ouzine, described the leaks from the ethics committee meeting of the temporary committee for managing the affairs of the press and publishing sector as a "moral catastrophe".
Ouzine confirmed in a post published on his Facebook account that the incident shook the pillars of the National Press Council and revealed unethical practices in an institution supposed to protect the rules and regulations of the profession, instead of turning into a public spectacle for public opinion. Ouzine pointed out that the leaks, regardless of the way they happened or their legal repercussions, document unethical practices within a body responsible for discipline and ethics, considering that what happened reflects poor governance in managing a sensitive and strategic sector like press, publishing, and communication. He affirmed that the issue revealed by the leaked recording also reveals a structural and functional crisis experienced by the National Press Council, especially after the expiry of the legal extension periods and an unjustified inability or procrastination in renewing its structures for about three years, and the adoption of the semi-permanent temporary committee as an alternative to the elected council, pending a new law regulating elections and appointments within the body. Ouzine explained that the leaks raise questions about the philosophy of self-regulation of the press and the limits of overlap between the political and legal in establishing the independence of the council, and also question the government's insistence on passing a new formula for the council's composition away from the rules of internal democracy and fair representation, and ensuring freedom of choice among professionals and publishers. He stressed that victory in the media field is not achieved by showing internal differences or offending colleagues, but by adhering to ethical rules and protecting the independence of the press, while enhancing its role in framing and shaping public opinion and building a democratic and developmental society, adding that what happened harms the press family and increases the crisis of institutional media in the country. Ouzine drew attention to the presence of groups within the media sector that exploited the situation to achieve personal gains, by promoting scandals and defaming Moroccans and exploiting the press for young people and competencies forced to deal with a poor environment, and also mentioned that some of these have been previously convicted judicially for publishing false information affecting state symbols, but they have returned today to exploit the media in the name of the state or in the name of the minister or in the name of official institutions, in actions he described as dangerous to the state and society. Ouzine also addressed what he described as "media blackmail" and the exploitation of some parties to put pressure on the opposition or settle political scores, stressing that these practices undermine the independence of the press and threaten its credibility, calling for confronting these violations and preserving professional credibility. Ouzine concluded his post by calling for caution in passing any new law for the National Press Council, and working on an extensive and serious institutional dialogue that includes all components of the profession, and consolidates the self-regulation of the press, and ensures its actual independence, with the development of public policies that protect freedom of expression, and support the press in performing its strategic tasks in framing and shaping opinion and consolidating Morocco's human rights, democratic, and developmental path.
