Sahara Breakthrough: Polisario Considers Moroccan Autonomy Plan with Referendum Condition

The Polisario is revising its position. In a statement to an international press agency, Mohamed Yeslem Beissat, head of the "diplomacy" of the independence movement, announced that the Polisario Front says it is ready to accept the autonomy plan proposed in 2007 by Morocco for Western Sahara, but only if the Sahrawi population validates it by referendum. He explained that the movement’s proposal "includes the three options provided for by international law: independence, integration and the free association pact, which could resemble what Morocco proposes". Except that since 1974, Rabat has displayed "its categorical opposition" to seeing a puppet state "in the southern part of the kingdom".

After the American recognition of the Moroccanness of the Sahara under the Trump administration in December 2020, the Moroccan autonomy plan has received an avalanche of support. The United States, France and the United Kingdom, who are among the five members of the Security Council, support the Moroccan plan. Russia is "in a constructive position" while China remains attached "to the previous resolutions", says Beissat.