The Autonomy Plan- For the Win

It’s a question that hounds people around the world: how do you reconcile the legitimate territorial rights of a sovereign nation to the equally legitimate aspirations of a local populace to self-determination? At first glance, these ideas may seem very much mutually exclusive. However, King Muhammad VI of Morocco may just have created a solution that satisfies both principles.

The area of conflict is the Western Sahara, which has lived essentially in limbo since the departure of its Spanish colonial overlord in 1975. Authority passed to joint rule by Morocco and Mauretania. Violence soon broke out though, and in the late 1970’s the Mauritanian government threw in the towel and gave up any claims in favor of the POLISARIO rebels. Morocco stayed though, backed by internationally recognized land claims that went back, depending on who was asked, at least decades.

On the other hand, there are of course people who live in the Western Sahara. These people, by any and all standards, deserve proper government and basic civil liberties. The UN recognizes this fact, but more importantly the Moroccan government recognizes this. This led King Muhammad VI, after the failure of numerous rounds of talks with the POLISARIO front, to take the initiative and create his own autonomy plan. It is a plan that Secretary of State Hilary Clinton called, “serious, realistic and credible, a potential approach to satisfy the aspirations of the people in the Western Sahara to run their own affairs in peace and dignity.”

The autonomy plan is effective in reconciling the two outlying causes of the conflict over the Western Sahara. It recognizes Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara, while allowing for serious local governance by the people of the region. It is a credible plan, and, as constitutional law professor Benoit Pelletier of Ottawa University said, “in conformity with international norms in force.”

Such an approach, as balanced as it is, is simply in line with the reforms and progress King Muhammad VI has made since his ascension to the throne 12 years ago.

The American Task Force on Western Sahara sees this as a truly viable solution to the conflict, which is why ATFWS so heartily supports it. The autonomy plan is a reasonable way to end one conflict on a conflict-plagued continent.

What do you think? Is it a framework for peace or a farce? Join the debate!

-By the Editors

Deadly Unexploded Munitions Destroyed in Western Sahara

August saw over 7,000 Unexploded Ordinances (grenades, artillery projectiles, and bombs) destroyed in the Western Sahara. Though the exact number of these live munitions, which are spread all across the Western Sahara, is unknown, there have been thousands of casualties that have resulted due to civilians coming upon these explosives. MINURSO conducted the destruction of the munitions across 433 sites across the Western Sahara. Read More

Polisario Fighters Captured in Libya

An official in the National Transitional Council (NTC), Libya's official rebel organization, announced that over 550 fighters from the Polisario Front were detained near the town of Zawiyah.. The official stated that documents from recovered from the Algerian Embassy in Tripoli show that the fighters entered Libya with support of Algiers. The fighters, fighting as mercenaries for Moammar Ghadaffi, were also supported by some Algerian troops, the official claimed. Read More

Question of the Day: If substantiated, why would the Polisario agree to fight for Ghadaffi?

Chile Calls Autonomy Plan "Interesting"

During a visit to Rabat to discuss common legislative interests between the two countries, the President of Chile's Senate, Guido Gilardi, called Morocco's autonomy plan "interesting". Gilardi expressed Chile's support for the United Nations to resolve the long-standing Western Sahara conflict. In addition, he praised Morocco's recent democratic initiatives. Read More

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How do you interpret the Senate President's statements on the conflict?

Leave your comments below to have your view heard.

Expectations for Middle Eastern Countries Should be Realistic

Aida Alami, in her New York Times piece “Morocco's Democratic Changes Fail to Appease All”, critiques Morocco’s recent constitutional referendums. Alami points out that critics have viewed the referendum as inadequate, the process as invalid, and the constitutional changes as cosmetic. However, there are a few points that Alami does not take into account in coming to her conclusions.

Firstly, the article fails to realize that Morocco is in a region that is, by all accounts, behind in a democratic institutions. To expect it to change overnight into a constitutional monarchy or some other type of representative government is unrealistic. These processes take time to develop. It took the United States 88 years after its founding to deem that slavery of another individual as illegal. No one, not even Morocco itself, believes that this constitutional referendum fully solves the lack of representative government. The King himself stated in his address to the nation that the new constitution is no silver bullet, saying, “As perfect as it may be, a constitution is never an end in itself, but rather a means for the establishment of democratic institutions.” Put into perspective of the entire Middle East, however, this is an unprecedented step forward. While other regimes have either ignored protestor’s demands, given vague promises, or clamped down on protestors, Morocco has actually introduced a set of reforms and presented it to the people. This will not only have implications within Morocco itself (and the Western Sahara conflict), but also across the broader region. There is admittedly much work to be done, but this is a response to citizens’ demands which should be applauded.

The article states that only 13 million out of the 20 million citizens eligible to vote were actually registered to vote. That comes out to 65% of those able to vote were actually registered. This is not far behind the United States, where the percentage is 71%. Once again, considering the Arab world is just coming into the democratic era, this is a promising number. Also, of those who did vote, 98% voted in favor of the referendum. Of course, this is not “all”, but it is at least indicative of a large number of Moroccans accepting the reforms.

The title of the article itself reveals another flaw in its expectations. The title states that not “all” are happy with the changes. Is this not an obvious statement? No matter what was proposed, would everyone be happy? Such is the nature of a society- there will be some that are happy with certain courses of action, others who would have liked to go a different route. Once again, the United States is an apt example. The current debt ceiling negotiations are guaranteed to not appease somebody. Even on less contentious issues, there is never a 100% appeasement rate. It is not fair to keep such a high standard on such policy initiatives.

Morocco is not “there” yet. Its internal situation, and its issues with Western Sahara, are ever evolving. While it is important for those on the outside to encourage reforms and progress, it is equally imperative that expectations be realistic. It is vital that the context of the region’s history and politics be taken into account when judging the pace of change.

UN-backed Western Sahara Talks Start Today

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and UN Western Sahara Envoy Christopher Ross (UN News Centre)

 

 

 

After a month-long dryspell of talks between the parties, the United Nations has backed a round of informal talks between Morocco and the Polisario Front concerning the Western Sahara conflict. The negotiations start today and will end on Thursday. The talks will also include neighboring countries of Mauritania and Algeria.

The talks come at the invitation of Christopher Ross, Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara, continuing an effort since 1976 to negotiate a settlement.

Question: How do you think the talks will go?

Leave your comments below.

Western Sahara- What's the US's Next Move?

Fifty-four US Senators sent a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last year asking her to make the resolution of the Western Sahara conflict a top North African priority. The letter pointed out that the region's struggling economy plus the restless youth population were contributing to instability. The Senators supported the autonomy plan, calling it "serious and credible". While support has been there, action has been absent

Congress was busy with healthcare, the deficit, and the war on terror. However, the Western Sahara issue is no longer on the radar.

What do you feel Congress's next action on the Western Sahara issue should be?

Leave your suggestions in the comment section below