AU’s Vice-presidency: Algeria, Sahrawi Republic (SARD), Morocco stand as candidates

By: Hana Saada

ALGIERS– Algeria is officially a candidate for the post of first vice-president of the African Union, along with Morocco as well as the Sahrawi Republic (SADR).  Libya, on its part, withdrew its candidacy in favor of that of Algeria.

Algeria’s candidacy is motivated by its principled and unwavering commitments to Pan-Africanism, development as well as security in Africa. A commitment reiterated on the occasion of the 36th Summit of Heads of State held in Addis Ababa with the announcement of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s decision to allocate one billion dollars to the Algerian Agency of International Cooperation for Solidarity and Development, in order to fund development projects in African countries.

In addition to its recognized commitment to development in Africa, Algeria has also responded favorably to the requests of certain African countries to apply for the post of vice-president of the African Union.

Unsurprisingly, Morocco, which rejoined the African Union in 2017, presented its candidacy for the same position. It is facing a bizarre situation, vying with Western Sahara; a country it occupies and does not recognize, for the same post.

Morocco aims, through its candidacy, to paralyze the functioning of the institutions of the African Union and strengthen its influence within the Pan-African organization in the service of its expansionist policy and the colonization of Western Sahara. True to its policy, the Kingdom has always sought to sow confusion and division within the African Union and this, in the exclusive service of its colonization policy and the fait accompli in Western Sahara.

Subsequently, the Sahrawi Republic decided to apply for this post in protest against the candidacy of a state that violates the principles of the African Union; in this case Morocco. It denounces, in the strongest terms, the Moroccan maneuvers aimed at dividing the African Union.

Noting that Morocco left the Organization of African Unity in 1984, in protest against the admission of the SADR. In 2017, the kingdom rejoined the organization, which has since become the African Union, without trying to have the Sahrawi Republic excluded, as within the AU, the SADR is not only a full member, but also a founding member.

Sahrawi diplomacy has put Morocco in an untenable position which, if it maintains its candidacy for the post of first vice-president of the AU, will have to face a country which it considers to be part of its territory and of which it denies existence as a state. For the SADR, it is unacceptable for a country like Morocco which occupies its territory and violates the founding principles of the AU on decolonization and the resolutions of the Pan-African organization on the Sahrawi conflict to take up this position.

Sneak peek into Western Sahara cause

Western Sahara, noteworthy, is a Non-Self-Governing Territory of the UN that lies in the Sahel region bordered by Algeria, the Kingdom of Morocco, and Mauritania. This territory is home to the Sahrawis, a collective name for the indigenous peoples living in and around the region. They speak the Hassaniya dialect of Arabic. Similarly, many others also speak Spanish as a second language due to the region’s colonial past.

Western Sahara has been on the decolonization agenda of the UN and AU for more than fifty years. In 1963, Western Sahara was included on the list of non-self-governing territories under Article 73 of the UN Charter and the UN General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 1960 on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.

On November 6, 1975, Morocco launched the so-called ‘Green March’, a march of 350,000 Moroccans, a number four times the size of the Sahrawi population back then, into the territory of Western Sahara.

According to Adala UK, on that day, Morocco organized what it called a “Green March” to officially invade the North of Western Sahara moving 350,000 Moroccan settlers to the territory. This occupation coincided with the termination of the Spanish status as an Administrative Power, creating a vacuum that imposed on the UN to assume its responsibility there.

Subsequently, the UN Security Council deplored the holding of the march, calling upon Morocco to immediately withdraw all the demonstrators from the territory of Western Sahara; however, its effort was in vain.

The Polisario Front liberation movement continued its struggle to end all foreign occupation of its country and in 1976 formed a government-in-exile and declared the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic. In November 1984, the Polisario Front’s SADR was recognized by the then Organization of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union (AU), which led to the withdrawal of Morocco from the OAU in protest. In May 1991, the Polisario Front and Morocco ended many years of fighting following an UN-sponsored peace settlement, culminating in the establishment of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), which is assuming its responsibility till nowadays.

Despite a cease-fire in 1991 that put an end to the armed combat, Western Sahara remains a disputed territory. Nowadays, Morocco controls parts of the territory. However, the United Nations refers to Western Sahara as a non-self-governing territory and maintains a stance favoring self-determination for its people.

The UN body is attaching great interests to the Saharawi cause, expressing willingness to find a solution ensuring the self-determination of the Sahrawi people, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the Council.

After almost 30 years of compliance with a 1991 ceasefire, Morocco and the Polisario Front have resumed war in Western Sahara, as Morocco torpedoed the 1991 ceasefire through its act of aggression on the Saharawi Liberated Territories on 13 November 2020.

The Moroccan new act of aggression has not only ended the ceasefire and related military agreements but has also undermined the UN peace process in Western Sahara and plunged the region into another spiral of extreme tension and instability.

Both the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council have confirmed the breakdown of the 1991 ceasefire on 13 November 2020. In his report (S/2021/843; para 2) dated 1 October 2021, the UN Secretary-General acknowledged, among other things, “the resumption of hostilities” between the occupying state of Morocco and the Frente POLISARIO. For its part, in its resolution 2602 (2021) adopted on 29 October 2021, the Security Council noted “with deep concern the breakdown of the ceasefire” (PP 14).

The acknowledgment by both the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council of the breakdown of the 1991 ceasefire and the realities on the ground render any attempt to deny or underplay the seriousness of the current situation in MINURSO’s area of operation unacceptable and even misleading at a time when the occupying state of Morocco continues its aggression on the Sahrawi Liberated Territories and its deliberate targeting and killing of civilians and destroying their properties.

The final status of the state of Western Sahara will only be settled when a UN-supervised referendum is held in which the country’s inhabitants should exercise their legitimate right to self-determination.

For Algeria, the defender of the colonized peoples worldwide, Western Sahara is a question of decolonization between the Polisario Front and the Kingdom of Morocco given that this territory is inscribed on the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, pending the implementation of the historic resolution 1514 of the General Assembly, which establishes the right of colonized peoples to self-determination and independence, and Algeria will always remain peace patron at the regional and international levels. Algeria has always reiterated its keenness to continue to support the Saharawi people to realize their right to self-determination and independence, considering this firm position as an international obligation, and Algeria will always assume its role as negotiations’ supervisor.