Le Monde Exposes the Moroccan Mirage: Mohammed VI’s Fragile Throne, the Illusion of Reform
✍️ BY: Dr. Hana Saada
Algiers – September 2025 – A six-part investigative series published by Le Monde has shaken political and media circles by exposing the contradictions, fragilities, and authoritarian undercurrents that define the reign of King Mohammed VI after twenty-six years on the throne. From his visible health troubles to the opaque networks of palace power, from Morocco’s unfinished reforms to its suffocating political order, the portrait that emerges is that of a monarch simultaneously weakened and yet dangerously entrenched.
A Fragile Monarch, A Nervous Establishment
The paradox of Mohammed VI has rarely been so stark. On 7 June 2025, at the Eid al-Adha prayer in Tetouan, he appeared exhausted, unable to bend or kneel, his face marked by fatigue — fueling speculation about his declining health. Days later, however, footage circulated of him confidently riding a jet ski off Cabo Negro, waving to citizens as if to dispel doubts.
This duality encapsulates the Moroccan reality: a king whose physical frailty amplifies elite rivalries and succession anxieties, yet who remains cloaked in the aura of Amir al-Mu’minin (Commander of the Faithful), a religious-political title that renders him beyond contestation.
Palace Intrigues and the Fragile “Makhzen”
Power in Morocco is held together by the Makhzen, a shadowy network of courtiers, businessmen, and intelligence chiefs orbiting the throne. Proximity to the king is the only currency of survival: to be seen at royal iftars, receptions, or ceremonies signals favor; absence signals disgrace.
Even top figures such as Yassine Mansouri, head of external intelligence, have recently disappeared from royal protocol, sparking whispers of rivalries. Such gestures, invisible to the public eye, carry weight within the palace elite — reminders that influence is fickle and entirely dependent on royal whims.
Diplomacy as Theater, Not Substance
On the international stage, Mohammed VI projects grandeur. The October 2024 visit of Emmanuel Macron was staged with lavish pomp — cavalry, red carpets, and carefully orchestrated symbolism. Yet behind the pageantry lay a geopolitical quid pro quo: France’s reluctant recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, extracted after years of diplomatic blackmail, suspension of bilateral meetings, and media offensives.
For all the spectacle, the reality is harsher: Morocco’s diplomacy is less about partnership and more about coercion, leaving even its oldest allies politically cornered.
A King of Half-Reforms and Red Nights
In 1999, Mohammed VI was welcomed as a reformer after the brutal reign of Hassan II. For a fleeting moment, he embodied liberalization — tolerating new cultural spaces, encouraging the Marrakech International Film Festival, and projecting a cosmopolitan image.
But beneath the veneer of modernization lay another face: lavish nocturnal parties, opulent banquets, and an elite cut off from a people sinking in poverty. Two decades later, the reforms remain half-baked: schools in disrepair, health systems overstretched, and entire regions marginalized, while the palace indulges in endless luxury.
Authoritarianism Dressed in Religion
Mohammed VI’s trump card remains his religious legitimacy. As Amir al-Mu’minin, he alone monopolizes Islam in Morocco, silencing Islamists, marginalizing the ulema, and blocking any competing authority.
This title is not symbolic; it is a mechanism of repression. When he commands, the people obey — even when it means suspending Eid sacrifices under the guise of “climatic and economic difficulties,” while the king himself slaughters sheep for the cameras. Religion is thus reduced to political theater, a tool for obedience rather than faith.
The Trap of Controlled Democracy
The 2011 Constitution, presented during the Arab Spring as a “historic shift,” is now revealed as a façade. Governments are elected but power never leaves the palace. Parliament is weak, parties are fragmented, and Islamists — once touted as an alternative — were strategically humiliated by being allowed to govern under impossible conditions, only to exit discredited.
The result is a hollowed political system where the king alone arbitrates, decides, and dictates the rules of the game.
Continuity of Fear: From Hassan II to Mohammed VI
If Hassan II ruled with an iron fist, crushing the Rif and humiliating the Arab League, his son has perfected a subtler but equally corrosive model: authoritarianism under the guise of modernity. Economic modernization is offered to the West — ports, free zones, renewable projects — but the Moroccan people pay the price in stagnation, unemployment, and repression of dissent.
The Moroccan Paradox: Modernization Without Freedom
After twenty-six years, the enigma of Mohammed VI endures:
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A modernizer who builds megaprojects, but refuses genuine political liberalization.
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A fragile man whose health falters, but whose grip on power remains unchallenged.
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A monarch embraced by Western capitals for “stability,” but reviled at home for perpetuating stagnation and inequality.
The equation is clear: economic modernization in exchange for political paralysis — a trade-off that satisfies foreign partners while leaving ordinary Moroccans disillusioned, impoverished, and voiceless.
Conclusion: A Kingdom on Shaky Foundations
Mohammed VI remains both indispensable and embattled: indispensable because the system is built entirely around him, embattled because his fragility exposes the vacuum beneath. Morocco today is a kingdom adrift, suspended between the exhaustion of its monarch and the suffocating weight of an authoritarian order.
The so-called “Moroccan exception” — once praised as a model of reform and stability — is now revealed for what it is: a fragile monarchy clinging to power through spectacle, repression, and illusion.
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