Morocco World News/ MAP
Morocco World News/ MAP
Rabat, October 27, 2011
It seems that the series of setbacks that the Polisario has suffered over the past year is nowhere near an end. After the rumors pointing to the involvement of the Polisario militias on the side of the deceased regime of the late Gaddafi, the election of Morocco to the Security Council, and the kidnapping of three humanitarian workers in the Tindouf camps with the complicity of the Polisario’s elements, another event comes to show the extent to which the Polisario lost its legitimacy among its own “followers”. A group of Sahrawis has recently created a platform under the name, “ the Coordination of the Polisario’s Opponents”, to vocalize its opposition to the Polisario’s leadership.
The “Coordination of the Polisario’s Opponents,” is made up in its great majority of former senior and middle official of the separatist front, in addition to opponents within the camps, said the President of this newly formed body. The creation of this platform comes against the backdrop of changing geopolitical situation in North Africa, especially after the demise of the Gaddafi’s regime.
In an exclusive interview- to be released Friday- with the Moroccan Arabic-speaking weekly “Al Ayam”, the President of the Group, indicated that the Coordination includes “names of high caliber,” among them “former senior officials of the Polisario front.”These people are credible and have not soiled their hands during the 35-year-old conflict, he added.
The names of the Coordination members will be revealed during a press conference to be held in late October, he said, adding that there will be surprises marking this meeting regarding the names of the people who will serve on the Coordination and are still members of the Polisario Front.
The Coordination, he said, is composed of Sahrawi sensitivities and includes many former active members of the Polisario Front, but who are no longer convinced by the Front policy.
The group includes the Third Sahrawi Youth Generation (the youth movement that embraces the principle of return to the origins and the legality of history), the Movement of May 5, created in the wake of the Arab spring revolutions and claiming change and removal of the Polisario leadership that can not be recognized as the sole representative of the Sahrawi population, and many former and current polisario’s officials.
In his annual report to the Security Council (S/2011/249), the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki moon, recommended three initiatives to Morocco and the Polisario in order to end the stalemate in negotiations and find a lasting and mutually acceptable political solution to the Sahara conflict.
One of these initiatives include that “the parties find a means to include respected representatives of a wide cross-section of the population of Western Sahara inside and outside the Territory, formally or informally, in the consideration and discussion of issues related to final status and the exercise of self-determination”.
