argia.eus
INPRIMATU
Western Sahara?
Mikel Basabe Kortabarria 2016ko uztailaren 27a

President Brahim Gali was appointed by the Sahrawi representatives with 73% of the votes in favour. He has been elected abroad, as his homeland is occupied by Morocco. Lots of time and lots of time.

And it's that in the Sahara they're new. The situation has been maintained at all times since the signing of the truce, which has passed a quarter of a century. It is true that their responsibility cannot be shared equally between the two parties. Morocco is immobile; the Polisario Front stands still. It is also normal: time is in favour of him and against the Sahrawis. The extension is a good approach for Morocco, a bad approach for the Sahara.

That is why I find it so incomprehensible that the Polisario (and the others) maintain a sterile strategy. Only the annual liturgy is repeated.

I find it incomprehensible that Polisario (and the others) should maintain a sterile strategy. Only the annual liturgy is repeated.

As every year, the UN will prolong the Minurso mission, but the referendum will not be held. France is going to veto any other decision that benefits Sahara, and Spain is going to remain silent, comfortably seated in the country’s Security Council. Why not? Your Debalde. Western Sahara is scarcely known in France, and no one in Spain works in a coordinated manner in favour of the Sahara. Gestures yes, many, but not political work. Humanitarian solidarity, declarations, nothing to say, but no political work is done involving Spain in resolving the conflict. And it needs to be. In the regional parliaments, a multitude of statements and non-legislative proposals in favour of the Sahara are accepted, but at the very most they are converted into brief news from the local media. Even if it sounds like a lie, there are groups supporting Sahara in almost all parliaments, but they are not coordinated. Even if it sounds like a lie, a political initiative for Western Sahara is not even discussed at the Congress of Deputies in Madrid.

Juan Carlos I de Borbón, prince of Spain and head of state of the dictatorship, signed the Sahara decolonization law. Since then, and why perhaps? Spain has never tried to find a just solution for the Sahara. In Portugal there was always solidarity with East Timor. Social and political solidarity. In the Kingdom of Spain, no one has promoted this for the Sahara. Unlike Portugal, the Sahara is without the support of the major parties, without the support of the main media.

Only in this way can it be understood that Palestine is an ambassador to Spain and that Western Sahara is not.

That is clear: The Sahara will be resigned to the old if it does not achieve the political solidarity of Spain. That needs to be done, but. Coordinate, set objectives. If the polisario really wants the referendum, it has to change Spain’s political position, because only after that will the European Union’s position change.