Morocco’s Head of Government has expressed his pride over the mobilization and engagement of Moroccans to defend the country’s territorial integrity.
“The issue of the Moroccan Sahara is a national cause, it concerns all Moroccans, the King, the government, and the people,” he said.
A large number of Moroccans recently took to social networks to express their support after Morocco lifted a blockade in Guerguerat, near the Moroccan-Mauritanian border. Many members of the Moroccan diaspora, in Spain, France, and Denmark, among other countries, took to the streets to express their pride in the action and condemn any acts that challenge Morocco’s territorial integrity.
The head of government made the statement on November 30 during the monthly general policy session at the Moroccan Parliament. The session focused on Morocco’s development programs in the southern provinces, as well as its diplomatic breakthroughs in the region.
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According to El Othmani, the recent developments in Western Sahara, notably the opening of diplomatic representations and the Guerguerat operation, illustrate the sincerity of Morocco’s economic and diplomatic efforts in its southern provinces.
The region represents an important link between Morocco and its “African roots,” El Othmani said, emphasizing that the November 13 operation in Guerguerat has strengthened South-South cooperation between Morocco and West African states.
Morocco’s action in Guerguerat lifted a three-week blockade by the separatist Polisario Front. It restored the flow of civil and commercial road traffic between Morocco and West Africa.
“This event is definitely an important milestone in the history of the national cause because it created a strategic shift on the field,” El Othmani said. “What will come after this stage is not the same as what came before.”
Commenting on the series of openings of consulates general in the Moroccan southern provinces, the head of government said the diplomatic representations concretize the international support for Morocco’s territorial integrity.
“The opening of consulates and the international support of the Guerguerat operation completely bury any separatist project,” he said.
Sixteen countries have so far opened diplomatic representations in Dakhla and Laayoune, southern Morocco, and three more—Jordan, Bahrain, and Haiti—have announced their intention to follow suit.
Before moving onto presenting the Moroccan development program in the region, the head of government recalled King Mohammed VI’s historic 2014 Green March speech, which emphasized that Morocco’s territorial integrity is a red line.
“Morocco will remain in its Sahara and the Sahara will remain part of Morocco until the end of time,” the King said on November 6, 2014.
