Accession and early years Mohammed ascended the throne on
the death of his father on 23 July 1999. His enthronement took place on 30 July, on the occasion of which he addressed his people on national television, promising to take on poverty and
corruption, while creating jobs and improving
Morocco's human rights record.
Islamist conservatives opposed his reformist rhetoric, and some of his reforms angered
fundamentalists. 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. Mohammed and his sister,
Princess Lalla Meryem, made a state visit to the United States in June 2000, as guests of the president
Bill Clinton. 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. In February 2004, Mohammed enacted a new family code (
Mudawana), which granted women more power. 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 did not name the perpetrators. According to human rights organizations, human rights violations are still common in Morocco. In March 2006, the government created the
Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), an advisory committee which defends Morocco's
claim to 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. Mohammed went on to visit Western Sahara in 2006 and 2015.
2011 protests and constitutional reform 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. Then-recent revolutions influenced the demonstrations 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. 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 empanelling a committee of legal scholars to produce a draft constitution by June 2011. On 1 July, voters approved a set of political reforms proposed by the king in a
referendum. The reforms consisted of the following: •
Standard Moroccan Amazigh is designated an official national language, along with standard
Arabic. • The state preserves and protects the
Hassaniya Arabic dialect and all the linguistic components of
Moroccan culture as a heritage of the nation. • 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. • The king is no longer "sacred or holy" but the "integrity of his person" is "inviolable". • High administrative and diplomatic posts (including ambassadors, CEOs of state-owned companies, and 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. • The parliament has the power to grant amnesty. Previously this was also exclusively held by the king. • The king guarantees the independence of the judiciary system from the legislative and executive branches. • 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. • 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.
Royal pardon scandal Protests broke out in Rabat 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. In response to the protests, he revoked Galván's pardon and Morocco issued an international arrest warrant; Galván was arrested in Spain, where he continued his sentence. Those pardoned included a drug trafficking suspect, who was released before standing trial. 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. He had resisted arrest using a firearm. In July 2016, Mohammed addressed a letter to the 27th
African Union (AU) summit 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". Morocco was admitted to the African Union in January 2017. Morocco also developed partnerships with the
Gulf Cooperation Council as well as other non-traditional
great powers, mainly China and Russia, intending to diversify trade links and foreign investments and limit Morocco's traditional reliance on the
European Union and other Western countries. The country offered to act as a mediator in the
Libyan crisis and remained neutral in the
Qatar diplomatic crisis. In June 2021, Mohammed congratulated
Naftali Bennett on his election as Israeli prime minister. 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".
Relations with neighbouring Algeria remained strained, despite calls from Mohammed for a reconciliation. Tensions intensified in the 2020s, primarily as a result of the Israel–Morocco normalization agreement and Western Saharan 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, and later severed diplomatic relations with Morocco. 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. 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.
Western Sahara policy From late 2019 onwards, several countries allied with Morocco in the
Western Sahara conflict—primarily African and Arab countries—established consulates in the Western Saharan cities of
Laayoune and
Dakhla, with a total of 28 as of 2023. In November 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 the movement of people and goods through Guerguerat, which the Polisario Front said had violated the 1991 ceasefire agreement. In August 2022, Mohammed said that the Western Sahara issue formed the basis for Morocco's foreign policy, through which it "measures the sincerity of friendships and the efficiency of partnerships". He called on other countries "to clarify their positions" on the conflict "and reconsider them in a manner that leaves no room for doubt". In 2023, Israel under the
third Netanyahu government became the second country to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the territory, followed by
Paraguay the following year. Following the approval of
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2797 on 31 October 2025, which endorsed Morocco's autonomy plan, Mohammed issued a royal decree designating its anniversary as
a national holiday.
Domestic policy After the
Moroccan national football team reached fourth place at the
2022 FIFA World Cup, Mohammed awarded the members of the team with the
Order of the Throne during a reception at the Royal Palace of Rabat. 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. 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. The bid was unanimously approved by the FIFA Council in October. In May 2023, Mohammed authorized the creation of a national public holiday for
Yennayer (Berber New Year). Following the
September 2023 Al Haouz earthquake which killed nearly three thousand people, Mohammed visited hospitals to support victims and donated blood for the needy. Under his instructions, the royal holding
Al Mada donated one billion dirhams for relief operations of quake-hit regions. == Business and wealth ==