Spanish Parliament Rejects Shift in Western Sahara Policy, Backs Morocco’s Plan

This proposal made after the debate on the state of the nation, asked the deputies of the Congress to demand that the government return to its decision to support the Moroccan autonomy plan for the Sahara. The proposal obtained 73 votes in favor, 262 against (120 from PSOE, 88 from PP, 50 from Vox, 3 from the mixed group and one from the Basque group) and 11 abstentions, reports Contramutis.

The proposal called on deputies to recognize Spain’s historical responsibility and moral debt to the Sahrawi population, and to urge the government to grant diplomatic status to the representation of the Polisario Front in Spain, the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people according to UN resolutions and the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The proposal also appealed to international institutions, insisting on the urgency of completing the decolonization of Western Sahara, in accordance with international law. It also demanded that the Moroccan government respect the rights of the Sahrawi people, and release the Sahrawi prisoners, recalling that the Spanish State remains the administering power of the Sahara and that the Madrid agreements of 1976 have never been recognized by the UN.