King Mohammed VI of Morocco is the current ruler of Morocco. He has been reigning since July 23rd 1999. Mohammed was born in Rabat, Morocco on 21st August 1963, two years after his father King Hassan II ascended to the throne. Mohammed was the Crown Prince of Morocco from birth. Mohammed's parents were King Hassan II and Queen Lalla Latifa Hammou. Mohammed grew up with his older sister, Princess Lalla Meryem (1962), two younger sisters Princess Lalla Asma (1965), Princess Lalla Hasna (1967) and his younger brother Prince Moulay Rachid (1970).
The Crown Prince began school at the royal palace at age four and graduated in 1981. He completed his undergraduate studies in Morocco. Mohammed began taking on more duties once he had finished his education. He joined the army and reached the rank of colonel major and became President of the Pan-Arab Games. Mohammed then went on to do a Masters in Law and Political Science. The Prince spent time in Brussels gaining political experience at the European Commission.
In 1993 Mohammed chose to further his studies in France and gained a PhD in law. Mohammed began to take on even more roles within Morocco. He increased his military rank to Major General and President of the High Council of Culture. He also took on the role of Commander in Chief of the Royal Army.
On July 23rd 1999 his father King Hassan II passed away and Crown Prince Mohammed became King Mohammed VI of Morocco. Since becoming king Mohammed VI has been passionate about mitigating poverty and corruption, creating more jobs and improving human rights in Morocco. Mohammed has been instrumental in putting forward women's rights, and in 2004 he introduced legislation into family law giving women more power. He has also been involved in a research project looking into human rights violations in Morocco.
However despite his reforms King Mohammed VI was found to be involved in corruption scandals in 2010. To combat this The King gave the Moroccan parliament new powers and moved the judiciary to be more independent of him. In 2011 Mohammed introduced new laws, some of which are as follows:
- The King has an obligation to appoint a Prime Minister from the winning political party.
- The King is no longer sacred/holy
- The Prime Minister, not The King has the right to appoint high ranking officials e.g. Ambassadors
- The Prime Minister, not The King presides over the Council of Government
- Women not only have political equality, but also social and civic.
- The Parliament, not The King has the power to grand amnesty
- All citizens have the right to freedom of thought, ideas and artistic expression
- The King remains the head of the armed forces, the King also has the right to dismiss Prime Ministers.
Most of the legislation was about giving more power to the government and ultimately, The Prime Minister.
Three years after being on the throne King Mohammed VI married Salma Bennani on 21st March 2002. King Mohammed and Princess Salma have two children together;
1). Crown Prince Moulay Hassan (8th May 2003)
2). Princess Lalla Khadija (28th February 2007)
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