Morocco has warned against the terrorism-separatism nexus before the 44th ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly currently held in Jakarta saying this nexus threatens the territorial integrity of States.

The alarm was sounded by Rachid Talbi Alami, Speaker of the Moroccan House of Representatives, which is participating in this conference in its capacity as an observer member of the AIPA.

Alami who spoke of the Sahara issue and how a separatist movement sheltered, financed and armed by a neighboring country is a breeding ground for terrorism and terrorists’ recruitment, explained that “international relations have become based on more fragmentation and rupture, instead of polarity, and on the multiplicity of alliances and axes, with the resulting security challenges, such as the spread of terrorist movements and separatist tendencies allied to them.”
These trends create “risks for the unity and stability of States and for global security,” he insisted, alluding, as put by analysts, to Morocco’s eastern neighbor, Algeria, and its Polisario puppet.

In his address before the conference held under the theme “Parliament is proactive in adapting for a stable and prosperous ASEAN”, Rachid Talbi Alami underlined that the parliaments of the world “have a crucial role to play”. First of all, they must “alert on the dangers of international situations,” in addition to “seek to prevent crises and settle disputes”.

These institutions must also “plead for the need to build a fair international economic system that takes into account the interests of the countries of the South”. Finally, they must “strengthen “institutional democracy,” he said.

As to Morocco’s relations with ASEAN countries, he said “fraternity and friendship unite us with all the ASEAN countries, with whom we shared the struggle against colonialism, and with whom we share, today, the struggle for development and progress.”

He pointed out that the Kingdom, which enjoys historic relations with these countries, shares the same concerns with them in the fight against the causes of climate change and environmental degradation, particularly pollution of the oceans and seas, with a view to deploying green economy projects at national level and producing energy from renewable sources. These projects are of strategic importance to Morocco and open up wide prospects for balanced partnerships, he said.

The Lower House Speaker also welcomed the opening up of new horizons for cooperation with ASEAN member countries, which include strategic projects that contribute to food production, underlining that the Kingdom “is carrying out major projects and contributing to the development of African agriculture, thanks to its expertise in this field and the great resources it has at its disposal in terms of phosphates and fertilizers, as well as in the green economy sector and related technologies.”

The free trade agreements linking Morocco to major countries and economic blocs, including the United States, a long-standing ally and friend of the Kingdom, “offer great opportunities for access to markets of around one billion consumers,” explained Talbi Alami, who also highlighted the potential offered by some 1,500 agreements between Morocco and sister African countries, 1,000 of which have been signed since the accession of King Mohammed VI to the Throne in 1999.

In addition to its strategic location close to Europe and its African and Mediterranean roots, “Morocco boasts modern infrastructures, notably ports on the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, assets that qualify it to be a center for trade with the rest of the African countries with which it maintains numerous partnerships, as well as with European countries, as it enjoys an advanced status in its relations with the European Union.”

All these achievements are consolidated by the stability and security enjoyed by Morocco, as well as by the economic freedom and incentives to foreign investors, he said, noting furthermore Morocco’s central role in promoting peace and coexistence between religions, civilizations and cultures, in which the Monarchy plays the role of strategic and spiritual guarantor.

On the sidelines of his participation in the conference, Talbi Alami held meetings with the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Indonesia, Puan Maharani, as well as with the Vice-Speaker of the House, Rachmat Gobel.

Morocco’s House of Representatives enjoys “Observer Member” status within AIPA. Validation of membership was announced at the Assembly’s 41st Session, held in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi in September 2020, an unprecedented feat given that the House of Representatives is the only parliament in Africa and the Arab world to enjoy membership of this Asian interparliamentary body.