Electing me benefits morocco

Abdel Wahed Radi Rabat- Al Hossein Idressi       President of the Moroccan House of Representatives, Abdel Wahed Radi, said that electing him as a president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union on Thursday, for the period between 2011 and 2014, has a significant benefit to Morocco, noting that a number of countries, which he did not identify, want to be democratic but do not know how to achieve that. Radi told 'Arabs Today' in an exclusive interview that his ascending to the presidency of this international institution will show that Morocco is a democratic country, he stressed "if it is not, the international community-particularly countries that are considered bastions of democracy in the world- would not allow someone from a non-democratic country to be the head of the Inter-Parliamentary Union", adding that " their vote for Morocco as they convinced that Morocco is on the right way." Furthermore, Radi is considered the oldest parliament in Morocco, as he still a member of the Moroccan House of Representatives since the sixties of the last Century, when he was elected for the first time in 1963 to represent the department of the west, and the city of Sidi Slimane, in the center-west Morocco. He suggested that the Moroccan presidency to this international institute will allow Morocco to serve democracy by standing by the countries who move towards democratic transition, or those who still in the 'embryonic stage' of democracy, as Morocco will play an important role in this case. Speaking about the democratic experience in Morocco, Radi said that he knew the political pluralism and parties decades ago, but Morocco is a country live his political life with the existence of opposition; and went on saying "we have in Morocco, an experience in the right of protesting, and manifestations of freedom of expression, and we have all the indicators of democracy and the ways to practice it." Comparing Morocco with its surroundings, he agreed that there are countries that struggle to be democratic, yet they do not know how to practice democracy, pointing out that democracy is not just manifestation of elections or the presence of political parties, but it is something bigger than this, because it is not only a practice, but norms and values in the first place. Abdel Wahed Radi, The Speaker of the Moroccan Parliament, was elected as the president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, for the period between 2011 and 2014, at the end of the session 125 of The Inter-Parliamentary Union, held recently in Bern, Switzerland. Radi who was supported by both Arabic and Islamic groups got 137 votes, while his rival The Indonesian Nour Hayati got 130 votes. The Session No. 125 for The Inter-Parliamentary Union held in the period between 16 and 19 October and discussed number of issues, including 'access to Health as a basic right, or the role of parliament to ensure the health of women and kids'. 'Redistribution of wealth and power: who sets the international calendar', and 'Supporting and practicing good governance as a mean to achieve peace and security, and draw lessons from recent events in the Middle East and North Africa'.