Mohamed VI cumple 22 años en el trono en mitad del repunte de contagios

The Kingdom of Morocco celebrates this Friday the Feast of the Throne, a holiday commemorating the 22nd anniversary of the enthronement of the current monarch, Mohammed VI. Tradition dictates that each Moroccan city should organise festivities, dress up in the colours of the flag and donate clothes and food to charities. However, the context set by COVID-19 will limit the celebrations as much as possible.

On the occasion of the commemoration, Mohammed VI will address the nation this Saturday, which will be broadcast on national radio and television from 9 p.m. onwards, according to the Ministry of the Royal Household, Protocol and Chancellery. The speech is usually delivered the day before, but the monarch will deliver it the day after. Last year, Mohamed VI addressed, among other issues, the pandemic crisis. The delicate situation in the Kingdom at the time forced the authorities to suspend all planned events. 

Mohammed VI decided to cancel the festivities for the second year in a row in view of the exponential increase in the number of infections. Despite the progress of the vaccination campaign, the presence of the Delta variant and the influx of Moroccan visitors from abroad have led to a spike in the number of cases in recent weeks. The average number of daily infections now exceeds the threshold of 3,000, a context that will once again impede the normal course of the day.

"As part of the monitoring of the preventive measures imposed by the evolution of the health situation, it has been decided to postpone all activities, festivities and ceremonies," the Ministry of Health said in a statement issued by the MAP agency. The usual reception at the Royal Palace and the subsequent ceremony, as well as parades in the vicinity of the residence, will also be suspended.

The current monarch will take advantage of the occasion to grant a total of 1,243 pardons, according to the Ministry of Justice. The pardon will affect 1,108 detainees, three of whom will have their sentences reduced from life imprisonment to time-limited imprisonment. The remaining 135 convicts have so far been at liberty. This new package of royal pardons comes on top of the one issued during the biggest celebration for the Muslim community, Eid Al Adha, which affected 761 people.

The Feast of the Throne was first celebrated in 1933 by the then Sultan Mohammed Yussuf, Mohammed VI's grandfather. The event marked Morocco's national day and soon became an anti-colonialist event. The French protectorate tried at all times to restrict the celebrations, but once independence was achieved in 1956, the holiday became firmly established.

The heir to Hassan II, Mohammed VI, came to the throne on 30 July 1999 after the death of his father and became the 18th king of the Alaouite dynasty. Since then, Morocco has experienced a slight opening up in political matters and two religious reforms promoted by the monarch himself, in his capacity as spiritual leader.

The Alawi kingdom has a relatively positive balance sheet for the past 365 days. After suffering an economic slump in 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, the World Bank estimates growth of 4 per cent this year, double the growth forecast for the Maghreb and Middle East region. For its part, and despite the latest figures, the pandemic is slowing down in the Kingdom thanks to the progress of the vaccination campaign. The Kingdom has administered a total of 23 million vaccines, and 27.3 per cent of the population is fully immunised.

On a geostrategic level, Morocco normalised relations with Israel in September through the historic Abraham Accords pushed by the Trump Administration. The negative note has been the diplomatic conflict with Spain following the admission of Polisario Front leader Brahim Gali to a hospital in Logroño. The dispute has recently entered a new phase with the arrival of the new foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, who has called for "time and discretion" to reduce tensions.

In this respect, Morocco has so far proven to be the most stable country in the region after a year of turbulence. While its neighbours, such as Algeria, Libya and Tunisia, live in a continuous period of social and political imbalance, the Alawi Kingdom is firmly maintaining a status quo established by the monarch Mohammed VI, who today celebrates his 22nd year as head of state.