Morocco renews wish to see Sahara referendum held
Morocco, Politics, 2/5/1999

Morocco on Thursday renewed its will to see the self-determination referendum in the Sahara held as soon as possible.

The holding of the referendum "is the only and unique way to definitively close the issue of the perfection of our territorial integrity," Interior Minister Driss Basri said in a report to the government council's weekly session.

The referendum, proposed by Morocco in the 1980's, is trapped in obstacles sown by the Polisario, which seeks to shrink the voters in lists.

The consultation, which was repeatedly postponed, is set to take place next December to determine whether the Sahara -- a former Spanish colony retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under tripartite accords concluded with Spain and Mauritania -- sets up on its own, as claimed by the Polisario, or is incorporated into Morocco.

Driss Basri renewed Morocco's attachment to the right of all Sahara-born nationals to be identified and to participate in the referendum.

He noted that the identification modes reached after compromises, showed its limits on the ground and required new negotiations.

The Polisario's refusal to participate in the identification of some tribal groups was the major cause behind the interruption of the identification operation in 1995, the minister said.

This is what led the United Nations secretary-general to appoint former US Secretary of State James Baker to unblock the situation. This resulted in the conclusion of the Houston compromise in September 1997, which dealt with various issues, including the identification of tribes contested by the Polisario and, hence, the resumption of the identification operation.

The Houston compromise paved the way for the launch of a third phase, starting from September 1997 until September 1998, when the process was interrupted anew, Basri said, explaining that the interruption is linked to the identification of certain tribes.

The new deadlock led the U.N. secretary-general to propose in October 1998 a package of measures that the parties should approve, he said.

The package deals mainly with the identification modes for individual applicants (belonging to tribes contested by the Polisario), the appeal procedures involving all applicants who were not accepted as voters during the identification phases, the installation of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the Sahara and the status of the MINURSO (French Acronym for the U.N. Mission supervising the holding of the referendum in the Sahara).

The interior minister underlined that the secretary-general's proposals are designed in such a way that identification would start simultaneously with the appeals procedures of applicants who were already identified and those whose applications were turned down, as well as with the publication of the voter lists.

Basri said Morocco is determined to defend the right of all Sahrawis to appeal the UN identification commission's decision and insists that they should benefit from all guarantees. He added that Morocco deems that all applicants who were not identified have the right to be identified in accordance with the U.N. settlement plan.

He also renewed Morocco's will to foil all maneuvers, manipulations and plots seeking to torpedo the sound implementation of the U.N. settlement plan on the Sahara.

Touching on the UNHCR installation, Basri said all practical measures have been taken recently for the installation of the representative of the UN agency and the beginning of its activities in the best conditions.

Previous Stories:
  Moroccan PM says support to his government is beyond parliamentary considerations   (2/1/1999)
  Morocco: No figure can be forwarded before completion of voter identification   (1/30/1999)
  Annan recommends four-week extension of UN Sahara mission   (1/30/1999)

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