Succession to the Moroccan throne is settled

The succession to the Alaouite throne is already arranged. There is only one heir, Mulay Hassan, son of King Mohammed VI and Princess Lalla Salma. He is 21 years old, and therefore it will no longer be necessary to go to a Regency Council. He will succeed his father, Mohammed VI, and will give continuity to the Alaouite dynasty which has reigned since 1631.

The why and the how are already solved. The only unknown is when; and that is in the hands of the current monarch. Whether by law of life - succession after the death of the current sovereign -, by abdication or by some formula compatible or forced with the current Constitution and the religious Canon, Hassan III will ascend to the seat held by the dynasty in the Kingdom of Morocco. Neither King Mohammed VI nor he himself has any doubts about it. 

To succeed the great-grandfather of the current Crown Prince, then Sultan Mohammed V, there were two hypothetical candidates, his two sons Mulay Hassan and Mulay Abdallah, and it was the former who ascended the throne; to succeed his grandfather Hassan II, there were also two sons, Sidi Mohammed and Mulay Rachid, and it was the first-born who succeeded him. This time, to continue the dynasty after Mohamed VI, there is only one heir, Mulay Hassan, who has already been designated. 

The possible obstacles to the implementation of the succession machinery can only come from the palace environment, from those who fear for their privileges and the guarantee of their functions, which can delay or hinder Hassan III's accession to the throne. 

When his grandfather Hassan II succeeded his progenitor Mohammed V, he did so without great internal shocks. Hassan, as Crown Prince, had already exercised extensive State functions, inside and outside the country; when he ascended the throne, he maintained a part of the Majzen, the Palace Administration, such as Mohamed Ufkir, Mohammed V's aide-de-camp and Hassan II's man of confidence, or Abdelhadi Butaleb, negotiator of the Moroccan Independence in Aix-les-Bains and advisor to his successor; with all this, Hassan II was promoting new figures such as advisors, advisors and palace officials. 

Hassan II inherited from his father the respect and admiration for the Sultan's preceptor, the Algerian from Kabylia Mohammed Mammeri, the most faithful of his close friends and uncle of the famous Algerian writer Mouloud Mammeri. 

The first-born son of Hassan II, Sidi Mohammed, ascended the throne upon his death 25 years ago, and caused a mini earthquake in the palace structures and in the social and political life of Morocco. He allowed refugees and exiles to return to the country, such as Abraham Serfaty and Fkih Basri, dissolved his father's harem, released political and union prisoners from jail, granted amnesty to military and political militants, put an end to Hassan II's secret prisons, and surrounded himself with young people. The closest of them had studied with him at the Royal College; others came from the left and had suffered imprisonment and ostracism. 

Few of the old figures who had accompanied his father remained with Mohammed VI, except for André Azoulay, Mohamed Allal Sinaceur and practically the entire military and security leadership. The young king proceeded to a major change in the ranks of the State and the Palace, with the appointment of his schoolmates to key positions in the system, notably Fuad Ali el Himma and Yassin Mansuri, both classmates of the King and who passed through the “practical training school” of the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior directed during the transition by Dris Basri, faithful to the monarchy until his death in August 2007 in Paris. 

The unknown that is currently worrying advisors, friends, influential personalities of the Makhzen and even the King's relatives, is the following: What will Hassan III do when he sits on the throne? Will there be continuity or rupture in the system of levers of power? Does the Heir already have a plan for when he succeeds his father? 

Everything would seem to indicate that Mulay Hassan has discussed separately with his mother Lalla Salma and with his father the King, what he thinks about it. It would be logical on the other hand. Hassan II said of his son Mohammed VI: “he will have his own style to reign”. There is no doubt that Mohamed VI may think the same about his son, the future Hassan III. Some say that Hassan III will promulgate a pardon which will include the Rifian resistance fighters led by Nasser Zefzafi, and the Saharawi prisoners including those condemned for the tragedy of Gdeim Izik. Time will tell.

What is in the oracles is that each king has had or will have, according to the Moroccan vision, his particular mention in history: Mohammed V as Father of Independence; Hassan II as architect of the modern State; Mohamed VI as integrator of the great Sahara desert of his Almoravid ancestors in today's Morocco; Hassan III as reunifier of the whole country with the purpose in mind of achieving a shared future with Spain for the northern cities and their rocky outcrops.