On Wednesday, the 30th of July, Morocco celebrated the 15th year anniversary of the reign of its ruler, King Mohammed VI.
King Mohammed VI, who is Africa’s wealthiest monarch with a fortune estimated at $2 billion, derived from his stake in investment company Société Nationale d’Investissement (SNI), ascended the throne on the 23rd of July, 1999 at the age of 35 after the death of his father, King Hassan II. Since ascending the throne, King Mohammed has instituted, accelerated and consolidated a range of social, democratic and economic reforms to improve the lives of Moroccans and strengthen the Kingdom’s institutions. The King’s reign has seen him tackling issues of poverty, improving foreign relations and enacting a number of political reforms that have reduced his own powers and strengthened the Moroccan parliament.
I recently had a conversation with Jordana Merran, Director of Media of the Moroccan American Center for Policy, an organization that works to promote relations and mutual understanding between the United States and Morocco. She highlighted a few key achievements of King Mohammed VI’s 15-year rule:
The 2004 Moroccan Truth & Reconciliation Commission – King Hassan II’s 38-year rule from 1961 to 1999 was characterized by a poor human rights record, including decades of imprisonment without trial and the mysterious disappearances of his political opponents – both real and perceived. To correct this, King Mohammed established the 2004 Moroccan Truth & Reconciliation Commission (IER), an independent reconciliation commission that investigated human right violations during King Hassan’s rule. King Mohammed accepted the commission’s recommendations and compensated more than 25,000 aggrieved Moroccans to the tune of close to $200 million.
Reform Of Morocco’s Family Code: In 2004, King Mohammed championed the cause for the reform of Morocco’s family code, the Moudawana, which is easily one of the most progressive laws on women and family rights in the Arab world today. Among other things, theMoudawana grants women joint responsibility of the family with their husbands, as well as equal rights in marriage and access to property upon divorce. The code also promotes women’s participation in politics and society, and as at today, 17% of Morocco’s parliamentary seats are occupied by women, up from just 1% 15 years ago.
National Initiative for Human Development: In 2005, King Mohammed established the National Initiative for Human Development(INDH) to alleviate poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion in the country. The programme employs a top-down approach to provide health care, social reintegration, job training and other services to Moroccans in urban and rural communities living in extreme poverty.
Diplomacy: King Mohammed has deepened Morocco’s ties in Africa and the Middle East and has strengthened Morocco’s longstanding alliance with the US. Today, Morocco has cooperation agreements with countries across Africa advancing economic development, security, and religious moderation. The King also funds and promotes a programme that trains Imams from Mali, Libya, Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, the Maldives and Nigeria on combating religious extremism.
The 2011 reform of the Constitution: In 2011, King Mohammed proposed constitutional changes which included amendments to whittle down his political powers, devolve power to the regions, strengthen of the authority of the country’s parliament, and ultimately consolidate democracy in Morocco. The Constitution was adopted by a national referendum.
