Hassan's
conservative rule strengthened the
Alaouite dynasty. In Morocco's first constitution of 1963, Hassan II reaffirmed Morocco's choice of a multi-party political system, the only one in the
Maghreb. The constitution gave the King large powers he eventually used to strengthen his rule, which provoked strong political protest from the
UNFP and the
Istiqlal parties that formed the backbone of the opposition. In 1965, Hassan dissolved parliament and ruled directly, although he did not abolish the mechanisms of
parliamentary democracy. When elections were eventually held, they were mostly rigged in favor of loyal parties. This caused severe discontent among the opposition, and protest demonstrations and riots challenged the King's rule.
In the early 1970s, King Hassan survived two
assassination attempts. The first, in 1971, was organized by General Madbouh and Colonel Ababou and carried out by cadets, during a function at
Skhirat, an ocean resort. On
August 16, 1972, during a second attempt at a
coup d'état, jets from the
Royal Moroccan Air Force fired upon the King's
Boeing 727 while he was traveling back to
Rabat, but failed to bring it down. General
Mohamed Oufkir, Morocco's defense minister, was the man behind the coup and was officially declared to have committed suicide after the attack. His body, however, was found with several bullet wounds.
In the Cold War era, Hassan II allied Morocco with the West generally, and with the United States in particular. There were close and continuing ties between Hassan II's government and the CIA, who helped to reorganize Morocco's security forces in 1960.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,515405,00.html Hassan served as a back channel between the Arab world and
Israel, facilitating early negotiations between them. This was made possible due to the presence in Israel of a large
Moroccan Jewish community. During his reign, Morocco (re)gained control over the former Spanish Sahara, including Tarfaya (1958), Ifni (1969), and
Western Sahara after the "
Green March" in 1975, an issue which was to dominate Moroccan foreign policy until this day. Relations with
Algeria deteriorated sharply due to this and due to the
1963 Sand War.
Economically, Hassan II adopted a market-based economy, where agriculture, tourism, and phosphates mining industries played a major role.
The period from the 1960s to the late '80s was labelled by the Moroccan opposition as the "
years of lead" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6256131.stm http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9403363/Morocco and saw many dissidents jailed, killed,
exiled or
forcibly disappeared.
King Hassan II had extended many parliamentary functions by the early '90s and released hundreds of political prisoners in 1991, and allowed the
Alternance, where the opposition assumed power, for the first time in the Arab World. He set up a Royal Council for Human Rights to look into allegations of abuse by the state.
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