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Morocco
Mohammed VI celebrates ten years' rule
Article published on the 2009-07-23 Latest update 2009-07-25 07:45 TU
King Mohammed VI of Morocco in 2002
(Photo: Wikipedia)
King Mohammed VI of Morocco celebrates ten years on the throne on Thursday. The monarch took power in 1999 after the death of his father Hassan II. Much has changed in the last ten years of Mohammed’s rule. In 2008 Morocco secured advanced status with the EU, giving it greater access to the 27-member bloc’s economic community. The agreement was a demonstration of confidence in Morocco’s political reforms and social policy.
Meanwhile, economically Morocco grew at a rate of 5.7 per cent in 2008, and is estimated to have growth of 4.4 per cent in 2009.
Official celebrations are scheduled for the end of the month, with Mohammed VI set to make a speech on 29 July and hold the traditional allegiance ceremony the next day.
Morocco has been successful in fighting poverty and since 2001. Some 1.7 million people have emerged from poverty and 1.2 million from vulnerability, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
There have also been large increases in investment in education, and a new law passed in 2004 gave women almost the same rights as men, making polygamy more difficult.
However, there have been some criticisms of Morocco’s human rights record and government corruption.
Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index ranked Morocco 80th out of 140 countries in 2008.
And Morocco remains involved in a long-standing land-grabbing issue over the Western Sahara, a contested territory south of the country. Morocco has maintained that the Western Sahara is officially theirs, even though most countries do not recognize their sovereignty over the area.
Human Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have documented ongoing human rights abuses against the Saharawi people of the Western Sahara by Moroccan forces, including beatings and unlawful imprisonment.
