Prince Hicham Alaoui, first cousin of King Mohammed VI, strongly criticized the Makhzen, accusing the latter of repressing popular protests against normalization with the Zionist entity and demands for the improvement of precarious living conditions, reported the daily El Khabar.
In an interview with France 24, Hicham Alaoui, also a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, said that the monarchy in Morocco “is now curbing the people's aspirations for democracy.” He explained that the current system, where the king holds the center of executive power, results in a repressive dictatorial regime, with crucial decisions remaining concentrated in the hands of the Palace, regardless of changes in government.
“What I am proposing is not a simple political opinion, but a conviction that Morocco needs real change that restores power to the people,” added this critical voice of the Makhzen.
In this regard, he considered that a transition towards a model of “constitutional monarchy”, as in Spain or Great Britain, could be the solution to building a political system respecting the will of citizens. Prince Hicham Alaoui affirmed that the Makhzen, after the “Arab Spring”, strengthened its security and repressive control instead of responding to demands for reforms, political change and improvement of precarious living conditions, as well as to opposition to normalization with the Zionist entity. He also explained that the Makhzen resorts to repression and intimidation as a predictable response from an authoritarian regime keen to preserve its absolute power.
He did not fail to criticize the normalization policy of King Mohammed VI with the Zionist entity, considering that this decision was imposed within the framework of the Abraham Accords, with the support of the United States, without taking into account public opinion, nor the Palestinian cause.
He called the decision “a disregard for the popular will and an unjustified political concession.” The prince also noted that the Makhzen took advantage of this decision to strengthen its relations with international powers, to the detriment of a popular position which rejects any collaboration with a Zionist government engaged in repression and acts qualified as genocide against the Palestinians. He suggested that the Makhzen is using the card of normalization and its rapprochement with the Zionist entity as a means of buying the silence of international human rights organizations in the face of the repression and intimidation suffered by the Moroccan people. .
Hicham Alaoui also strongly criticized the Justice and Development Party for its support for normalization with Israel within the framework of the Abraham Accords. He described this position as proof of Islamists' submission to political guidelines dictated by the Palace, even when these went against public opinion.
