People: King Mohammed VI of Morocco (Wiki)

Posted On 22 November 2017

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Mohammed VI of Morocco

Mohammed VI (Arabic: محمد السادس, romanized: Muḥammad as-sādis; born 21 August 1963)[1] is King of Morocco. A member of the 'Alawi dynasty, he acceded to the throne on 23 July 1999, upon the death of his father, King Hassan II.[2]

Mohammed has vast business holdings across several economic sectors in Morocco. His net worth has been estimated at between US$2.1 billion[3] and over US$5.2 billion.[4][5] In 2015, Forbes named him the richest king in Africa and the fifth wealthiest monarch in the world.[6][7]

Upon ascending to the throne, Mohammed initially introduced a number of reforms and changed the family code, Mudawana, granting women in Morocco more power.[8] Leaked diplomatic cables from WikiLeaks in 2010 led to allegations of corruption in the court of Mohammed, implicating him and his closest advisors.[9] In 2011, protests in Morocco that were considered part of the wider Arab Spring occurred against alleged government corruption. In response, Mohammed enacted several reforms and introduced a new constitution. These reforms were passed by public referendum on 1 July 2011.[10]

Early life and education

Mohammed with his father King Hassan II in 1968

Mohammed was born on 21 August 1963 and was the second child and first son of Hassan II and his wife, Lalla Latifa.[11] As their eldest son, he was heir apparent from birth.[citation needed]

Mohammed's father was keen on giving him a religious and political education from an early age; at the age of four, he started attending the Quranic school at the Royal Palace.[1] His educational routine commenced at 6 am with an hour-long recitation of the Quran, followed by formal lessons. He completed his first primary and secondary studies at the Collège Royal, a specialized college constructed within the fortified walls of the palace. Hassan II, desiring his son to experience competitive pressure, selected 12 classmates recognized for their intellect to accompany Mohammed in his studies. As depicted in Le Roi prédateur, a 2012 biography authored by two French journalists, there is an account of Hassan instructing his aides to administer twenty lashes to Mohammed when he appeared to lag behind in his studies.[12]

According to a childhood friend, Mohammed harbored fantasies about the world beyond the palace walls and seldom ventured outside. One of his favorite songs was "Breakfast in America" by the English rock band Supertramp, which celebrates the allure of travel by jumbo jet. Mohammed excelled in languages.[12]

Mohammed attained his Baccalaureate in 1981, before gaining a bachelor's degree in law at the Mohammed V University at Agdal in 1985.[13] His research paper dealt with "the Arab-African Union and the Strategy of the Kingdom of Morocco in matters of International Relations".[1] He was furthermore appointed president of the Pan Arab Games, and was commissioned a Colonel Major of the Royal Moroccan Army on 26 November 1985. Mohammed served as the Coordinator of the Offices and Services of the Royal Armed Forces until 1994.[citation needed]

Crown Prince Mohammed in 1989

In 1987, Mohammed obtained his first Certificat d'Études Supérieures (CES) in political sciences, and in July 1988 he obtained a Diplôme d'Études Approfondies (DEA) in public law.[1] In November 1988, he trained in Brussels with Jacques Delors, the President of the European Commission.[1]

According to a biography by Ferran Sales Aige, Mohammed's father received reports from his spies indicating that the young prince was visiting bars regularly. This led to a deepening dissatisfaction from the king towards his son. In a moment of despair, Hassan II was rumored to have described his son's behavior as a "chromosome error." Mohammed was sent to study law in Nice, with his activities closely monitored by the interior minister dispatched by his father.[12] He obtained his PhD in law with distinction on 29 October 1993 from the French University of Nice Sophia Antipolis for his thesis on "EEC-Maghreb Relations".[1] On 12 July 1994, he was promoted to the military rank of Major General, and that same year he became president of the High Council of Culture and Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Moroccan Army.

According to the New York Times, prior to ascending to the throne, Mohammed "gained a reputation as a playboy during the years he spent waiting in the wings, showing a fondness for fast cars and nightclubs."[14] Over time, a noticeable estrangement developed between him and his father. He actively avoided encounters with Hassan II, even during his visits to Morocco. Instead, he frequently frequented Amnesia, an illicit club located underground in the capital city. According to Le Roi prédateur, Mohammed's close friend from school, Fouad Ali El Himma, facilitated his visits to Amnesia by installing a private lift from his apartment above that descended directly to the club's premises.[12]

Royal family of Morocco

Princess Lalla Lamia

Accession and early reign

King Mohammed VI (right) talking to U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington on 23 April 2002
Mohammed VI (left) with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2004

Mohammed ascended the throne on the death of his father on 23 July 1999.[15] His official enthronement ceremony took place a week later.[16] He made a televised address, promising to take on poverty and corruption, while creating jobs and improving Morocco's human rights record. His reformist rhetoric was opposed by Islamist conservatives, and some of his reforms angered fundamentalists.[8] His initial directives also included the dismissal of his father's hardline interior minister, Driss Basri, and the appointment of some of his former classmates to key positions in the state bureaucracy.[17] In February 2004, he enacted a new family code (Mudawana), which granted women more power.[8]

In July 2004, Mohammed announced that Morocco would lift visa restrictions for Algerians, with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika reciprocating the measure in 2005.[18] Mohammed also created the Equity and Reconciliation Commission, which was tasked with researching human rights violations under Hassan II. This move was welcomed by many as promoting democracy, but was also criticized because the commission's reports could not name the perpetrators. According to human rights organizations, human rights violations are still common in Morocco.[19][20][21]

Domestic policies

2011 protests and constitutional reform

Main article: 2011–2012 Moroccan protests

The 2011 Moroccan protests, led by the 20 February Movement, were primarily motivated by corruption and general political discontentment, as well as by the hardships of the global economic crisis. The demonstrations were influenced by then-recent revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt which overthrew their respective leaders, and demands by protesters included "urgent" political and social reforms, including the relinquishment of some of the King's powers.[22]

In a speech delivered on 9 March 2011, Mohammed said that parliament would receive "new powers that enable it to discharge its representative, legislative, and regulatory mission". In addition, the powers of the judiciary were granted greater independence from the king, who announced that he was impaneling a committee of legal scholars to produce a draft constitution by June 2011.[23] On 1 July, voters approved a set of political reforms proposed by the king in a referendum.

The reforms consisted of the following:[10]

  • Standard Moroccan Amazigh is designated an official national language, along with standard Arabic.[24]
  • The state preserves and protects the Hassaniya Arabic dialect and all the linguistic components of Moroccan culture as a heritage of the nation.[24]
  • The prime minister (officially titled "head of government") presides over the Council of Government, which prepares the general policy of the state; previously the king held this position. The prime minister also has the power to dissolve the parliament.[25]
  • The king now must appoint the prime minister from the party that wins the most seats in the parliamentary elections, but it can be any member of the winning party and not necessarily the party's leader. Previously, the king could nominate anybody he wanted for this position regardless of the election results. That was usually the case when no party had a big advantage over the other parties, in terms of the number of seats in the parliament.[10][26][27]
  • The king is no longer "sacred or holy" but the "integrity of his person" is "inviolable".[28]
  • High administrative and diplomatic posts (including ambassadors, CEOs of state-owned companies, provincial and regional governors) are now appointed by the prime minister and the ministerial council which is presided over by the king; previously the latter exclusively held this power.[29]
  • The parliament has the power to grant amnesty. Previously this was also exclusively held by the king.[30]
  • The king guarantees the independence of the judiciary system from of the legislative and executive branches.[25][31]
  • Women are guaranteed "civic and social" equality with men. Previously, only "political equality" was guaranteed, though the 1996 constitution granted all citizens equality in terms of rights before the law.[27]
  • The king retains complete control over the armed forces and the judiciary as well as matters pertaining to religion and foreign policy, as well as the authority to appoint and dismiss prime ministers.[32]
  • In theory, all citizens have freedom of thought, ideas, artistic expression and creation. Previously only free speech and the freedom of circulation and association were guaranteed. However, criticizing or directly opposing the king is still punishable with prison.[27][33]

Later developments

In January 2017, Morocco banned the manufacturing, marketing, and sale of the burqa.[34]

On 20 December 2022, Mohammed invited the Moroccan national football team to a reception at the Royal Palace in Rabat, following their reaching fourth place at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and awarded the members of the team with the Order of the Throne.[35][36] In March 2023, he was invited by president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Patrice Motsepe to receive the CAF's outstanding achievement award.[37][38] During the awards ceremony in Kigali, Chakib Benmoussa, attending on behalf of the king, announced in a letter written by Mohammed that Morocco would join the Portugal–Spain 2030 FIFA World Cup bid as a co-host.[39][40] The bid was unanimously approved by the FIFA Council in October.[41]

In May 2023, Mohammed authorized the creation of a national public holiday for Yennayer (Berber New Year).[42] In September 2023, following an earthquake in the Marrakesh–Safi region which killed nearly three thousand people, Mohammed visited hospitals to support victims and donated blood for the needy.[43][44][45] Under his instructions, the royal holding Al Mada donated one billion dirhams for relief operations of quake-hit regions.[46][47]

Western Sahara

A souvenir stand in Marrakesh in 2022, with photos depicting Mohammed VI and the Guerguerat border post

The Western Sahara conflict is considered one of the longest-running on the African continent. Morocco's official stance is that Western Sahara is an integral part of its territory, a stance adopted following the 1975 Green March.

Mohammed visited Western Sahara in 2006 and 2015.[48] In March 2006, the government created the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), an advisory committee which defends Morocco's claim over Western Sahara, and whose members are appointed by the king. The CORCAS proposed a plan for Western Sahara's autonomy, provided it remains under Moroccan sovereignty.[49] In 2021, the CORCAS condemned the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, citing human rights concerns.[50]

The Polisario Front, the main opposite party to the conflict, advocates for the establishment of an independent Sahrawi state. Morocco and the Polisario Front reached a ceasefire agreement in 1991, which included the establishment of a United Nations peacekeeping mission (MINURSO) to oversee and conduct a potential referendum on the future status of Western Sahara; to this day, such a referendum has never occurred.[51]

In 2020, an escalation of the conflict began when Sahrawi protesters blocked a road connecting Guerguerat to sub-Saharan Africa via Mauritania. Morocco responded by intervening militarily to resume movement of people and goods through Guerguerat, which the Polisario Front said had violated the 1991 ceasefire agreement.[52][53]

In 2021, Mohammed said that the "Moroccanness of the Sahara" remained an "indisputable fact", and asserted that Morocco was not negotiating over the territory, as the issue "never was - and never will be - on the negotiating table".[54] The following year, he confirmed that the Western Sahara issue was "the lens through which Morocco looks at the world", and through which it "measures the sincerity of friendships and the efficiency of partnerships", while also calling on other countries "to clarify their positions" on the conflict "and reconsider them in a manner that leaves no room for doubt".[55] This came as a number of countries backing Morocco's stance had established consulates in the Western Saharan cities of Laayoune and Dakhla beginning in late 2019, with a total of 28 as of 2023.[56] As of July 2023, the Trump administration in the United States and the third Netanyahu government in Israel had officially recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the territory.[57][58]

Foreign policy

Joint U.S.-Israeli delegation meeting with Mohammed VI during a visit to Rabat, 22 December 2020
Pedro Sánchez at a dinner with Mohammed and his entourage, 2022

Mohammed and his sister, Princess Lalla Meryem, made a state visit to the White House in Washington, D.C. in June 2000, as guests of United States President Bill Clinton.[59] The Bush administration designated Morocco as a major non-NATO ally in 2004. The two countries later signed a free-trade agreement in 2006, the only one of its kind between the United States and an African country, which was met with some criticism within Morocco due to increasing trade deficit.[60]

Mohammed increasingly prioritized African relations in Morocco's foreign policy.[61] In July 2016, Mohammed addressed the 27th African Union (AU) summit being held in Kigali, in which he requested Moroccan admission to the organization. Morocco had previously been a member of the AU's predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity, until it withdrew in 1984 in protest at the admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Mohammed justified his country's withdrawal saying that "the admission of a non-sovereign entity, by means of transgression and collusion" had prompted Morocco to "seek to avoid the division of Africa".[62] Morocco was admitted to the African Union in January 2017.

Under his administration, Morocco developed partnerships with the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as other non-traditional great powers, mainly China and Russia, with the intention to diversify trade links and foreign investments and limit Morocco's traditional reliance on the European Union and other Western countries.[63][61][64] The country offered to act as a mediator in the Libyan crisis and remained neutral in the Qatar diplomatic crisis.[65][60]

Relations with neighbouring Algeria remained strained throughout his reign.[66] Tensions intensified in the 2020s, primarily as a result of the Israel–Morocco normalization agreement and Guerguerat border clashes. In August 2021, Algeria accused Morocco of supporting the Movement for the self-determination of Kabylie, which it blamed for wildfires in northern Algeria,[67] and later severed diplomatic relations with Morocco.[68]

Morocco and Israel restored diplomatic relations on 10 December 2020, as part of the Israel–Morocco normalization agreement involving the United States, which at the same time recognized Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara.[69] In June 2021, Mohammed congratulated Naftali Bennett on his election as Israeli prime minister.[70] On the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People in November 2021, the king announced that Morocco would continue to push for a restart of Israeli–Palestinian peace negotiations. He called on both sides "to refrain from actions that obstruct the peace process".[71][72]

In February 2023, Mohammed and his foreign minister Nasser Bourita visited Gabon, meeting with its president Ali Bongo and conducting a donation of 2,000 tonnes of fertilizer to the country.[73][74] On 4 December 2023, Mohammed and his entourage made an official visit to Dubai, at the invitation of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in which the two leaders signed a declaration committing to the development of "deep-rooted" bilateral relations.[75][76]

Business and wealth

Graphic detailing ownership of the palace-controlled holding[77] the Société Nationale d'investissement as of June 2013
Main articles: Al Mada (holding), Attijariwafa Bank, and ONA Group

Mohammed is Morocco's leading businessman and banker.[77] In 2015, he was estimated by Forbes magazine to be worth US$5.7bn[4] although in 2019 Business Insider quoted a figure of just US$2.1 billion.[3] The Moroccan Royal Family, meanwhile, has one of the largest fortunes in the world.[78] Together, they hold the majority stakes in the Al Mada holding, formerly named the Société Nationale d'Investissement (SNI), which was originally state-owned but was merged in 2013 with Omnium Nord Africain (ONA Group), to form a single holding company that was taken off the Casablanca Stock Exchange—resulting in the scrapping of an equivalent of 50 billion dirhams marketcap (~US$6 billion).[79] Al Mada has a diverse portfolio consisting of many important businesses in Morocco, operating in various sectors including: Attijariwafa Bank (banking), Managem (mining), Onapar, SOMED (tourism/real-estate and exclusive distributor of Maserati), Wafa Assurance (insurance), Marjane (hypermarket chain), Wana-Inwi (telecommunications), SONASID (siderurgy), Lafarge Maroc, Sopriam (exclusive distributor of Peugeot-Citroën in Morocco), Renault Maroc (exclusive distributor of Renault in Morocco) and Nareva (energy).[80][81] It also owns many food-processing companies and is currently in the process of disengaging from this sector.[80] Between mid-2012 and 2013, the holding sold Lessieur, Centrale Laitière, Bimo and Cosumar to foreign groups for a total amount of ~$1.37 billion (11.4 billion Dirhams including 9.7 billion in 2013 and 1.7 in 2012).[80]

Mohammed VI has been on every Moroccan dirham banknote since 2002.

SNI and ONA both owned stakes in Brasseries du Maroc, the largest alcoholic beverage manufacturer and distributor of brands such as Heineken in the country.[82] In March 2018, the SNI adopted its current name, Al Mada.[83][84]

Mohammed is also a leading agricultural producer and land owner in Morocco, where agriculture is exempted from taxes.[80] His personal holding company SIGER has shares in the large agricultural group Les domaines agricoles (originally called Les domaines royaux, now commonly known as Les domaines), which was founded by Hassan II.[80] In 2008, Telquel estimated that Les domaines had a revenue of $157 million (1.5 billion dirhams), with 170,000 tons of citrus exported in that year.[80] According to the same magazine, the company officially owns 12,000 hectares of agricultural lands.[80] Chergui, a manufacturer of dairy products, is the most recognizable brand of the group.[80] Between 1994 and 2004, the group has been managed by Mohammed VI's brother-in-law Khalid Benharbit, the husband of Princess Lalla Hasna.[80] Les domaines also owns the Royal Golf de Marrakech, which originally belonged to Thami El Glaoui.[80]

His palace's daily operating budget is reported by Forbes to be $960,000, which is paid by the Moroccan state as part of a 2.576 billion dirhams/year budget as of 2014,[85] with much of it accounted for by the expense of personnel, clothes, and car repairs.[78]

Controversies

Royal pardon scandals

See also: Daniel Galván scandal

Protests broke out in Rabat, the capital of Morocco, on 2 August 2013, after Mohammed pardoned 48 jailed Spaniards, including Daniel Galván, a pedophile who had been serving a 30-year sentence for raping 11 children aged between 4 and 15.[86] Upon the protests, the King revoked Galván's pardon and Morocco issued an international arrest warrant; Galván was arrested in Spain, where he continued his sentence.[87]

Those pardoned included a drug trafficking suspect, who was released before standing trial.[88] The detainee, Antonio Garcia, a recidivist drug trafficker, had been arrested in possession of 9 tons of hashish in Tangier and was sentenced to 10 years.[89] He had resisted arrest using a firearm.[88] Some media claimed that his release embarrassed Spain.[89]

Allegations of corruption

Royal involvement in business is a major topic in Morocco, but public discussion of it is sensitive. The US embassy in Rabat reported to Washington in a leaked cable that "corruption is prevalent at all levels of Moroccan society".[9] Corruption allegedly reaches the highest levels in Morocco, where the business interests of Mohammed VI and some of his advisors influence "every large housing project," according to WikiLeaks documents published in December 2010 and quoted in The Guardian newspaper.[90] The documents released by the whistleblower website also quote the case of a businessman working for a US consortium, whose plans in Morocco were paralysed for months after he refused to join forces with a company linked with the royal palace. The documents quoted a company executive linked to the royal family as saying at a meeting that decisions on big investments in the kingdom were taken by only three people: the king, his secretary Mounir Majidi, and the monarch's close friend, adviser and former classmate Fouad Ali El Himma. This corruption especially affects the housing sector, the WikiLeaks documents show.[91]

In April 2016, Mohammed's personal secretary, Mounir Majidi, was named in the Panama Papers.[92][93]

Family and personal life

Private mansion in Paris, property of Mohammed VI.
Mohammed VI with Crown Prince Hassan, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, November 2018

Mohammed has three sisters: Princess Lalla Meryem, Princess Lalla Asma, and Princess Lalla Hasna and one brother, Prince Moulay Rachid. The New York Times noted "conflicting reports about whether the new monarch had been married on Friday night, within hours of his father's death [in 1999]... to heed a Moroccan tradition that a King be married before he ascends the throne." A palace official subsequently denied that a marriage had taken place.[14]

His engagement to Salma Bennani was announced on 12 October 2001.[94] They married in private in Rabat on 21 March 2002,[95] and their wedding was celebrated at the Dar al-Makhzen in Rabat on 12 and 13 July 2002.[citation needed] Bennani became princess consort with the style of Her Royal Highness on her marriage. They had two children: Crown Prince Moulay Hassan (born 8 May 2003) and Princess Lalla Khadija (born 28 February 2007).[8] The couple's divorce was announced on 21 March 2018.[96][97]

Mohammed's birthday on 21 August is a public holiday,[98] although festivities were cancelled upon the death of his aunt in 2014.[99]

In 2020, Mohammed purchased an €80 million mansion in Paris from the Saudi royal family.[100]

Health

Mohammed's health has been a reoccurring topic both within and outside Morocco.[101]

In 2017, he underwent a successful surgery at the Quinze-Vingts National Ophthalmology Hospital in Paris to remove a pterygium in his left eye.[102] In February 2018, he underwent a radiofrequency ablation to normalize an irregular heart rate, and was visited by members of the royal family.[103] In September 2019, the King was advised to rest for several days to recover from acute viral pneumonia, while his son Crown Prince Moulay Hassan represented him at former French President Jacques Chirac's funeral.[104] In June 2020, he underwent a procedure in Rabat to treat a recurrence of atrial flutter.[105]

In June 2022, Mohammed tested positive for COVID-19.[106][107] His personal doctor said he did not exhibit symptoms and recommended "a period of rest for a few days". Jeune Afrique reported that he contracted the disease while on a private visit to France.[108] On 10 July 2022, he made his first public appearance since recovering from COVID-19 when he performed Eid al-Adha rituals and prayers.[108]

Honours

National orders

As monarch, Mohammed assumed the custodianship of several national orders upon his accession to the throne.

Foreign orders

Mohammed has received numerous honours and decorations from various countries, some of which are listed below.

Honorary prizes:

Ancestry


References

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Mohammed VI
Born: 21 August 1963
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Morocco
1999–present 		Incumbent
Heir apparent:
Moulay Hassan
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_VI_of_Morocco
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