Concern in Morocco about the physical deterioration of King Mohammed VI

Moroccan King Mohammed VI is very sick as shown by the latest images reported by the media. The presence of the 59-year-old Alaouite monarch at the presentation ceremony of a 100% Moroccan car in mid-May already made him stand out: from the overweight that characterized him to extremely thin and pale. A later picture confirmed what the Spanish and African press had been announcing for a long time.

Mohammed VI is clearly suffering sarcoidosis, a disease of the immune system that particularly affects the lungs and lymph nodes, causing respiratory pain, weight loss, and fatigue. According to a French newspaper depeche, who consulted French medical sources, only half of patients have a cure if they can control it in three years; The King of Alaouite’s sarcoidosis made headlines five years ago.

The health of the Moroccan monarch is a state secretas well as his long absences and rudeness in official actions, from his accession to the throne until his father’s death. Hasan II 1999. At first, and with regard to official secrecy and solemn reputation the king – the owner of twelve palaces with more than a thousand servants and hundreds of luxury cars – the absences were attributed the king’s whim. In the 2010s, public attention began to focus on his health, following a striking weight gain and scathing reports that he had undergone two heart surgeries.

Internal struggle over succession

In court gossip, internal succession struggles also began to spill over. On paper, the path is clear: Mohammed VI’s successor will be his son, crown prince mulay hassan, who just turned 20 years old. However, it is often mentioned that the monarch’s brother, Moulay Rachidhe is trying to win, given his nephew’s youth and inexperience.

Succession in Morocco is not an issue that worries observers today political balance in the regionwhich indicate the existence of a structure and a body of competent senior officials who watch over the interests of the country with extraordinary zeal, which exceeds the capabilities of the monarch.

It is therefore understood that, during the more than two decades of Mohammed VI’s reign, foreign policy remained strict nationalist courseas was first shown by the Perejil Island crisis, tensions also with Spain over Ceuta and Melilla, and the unrelenting struggle – which is successfully waged to this day – over the territory of the Western Sahara, which Hassan II turned into a province of Morocco.

In domestic politics, the reign of Mohammed VI was able to liberate Islamist ballast with the granting of rights to women and a measure of mercy towards dissenters. This attitude saved Rabat from the adversities of the so-called Arab Spring, which destroyed the rest of the regime in North Africa.