HIBAPRESS – Rabat
The Constitutional Court dropped five articles from the National Press Council draft law after it became clear that they violated the constitution. These articles include those related to the council's composition, the representation of publishers, the president's powers, and the appeals disciplinary committee.
The court's decision came after the opposition components in the House of Representatives submitted a petition based on Article 132 of the constitution, demanding verification of the constitutionality of draft law No. 26.25, following its approval by the government majority despite widespread objections within the parliament. The opposition pointed out that the new law represents a "regression" from the gains of the previous law, gives excessive power to major platforms, limits the council's role in the self-regulation of the profession, in addition to violating the principle of equality and proportionality, and mixing legislative and regulatory authorities. The petition also highlighted several observations regarding the infringement of press freedom and media pluralism, restricting disciplinary offenses to specific categories, and excluding the defense of members in dismissal files, which violates the provisions of the constitution. The opposition confirmed that this step is not limited to its legal dimension only, but carries a political message to strengthen constitutional oversight and protect political pluralism and limit the dominance of the numerical majority, by coordinating between the opposition parliamentary groups and collecting signatures from more than one-third of the members of the House of Representatives.
