Morocco’s 2007 autonomy plan for the Sahara: A comprehensive overview

Morocco’s 2007 autonomy plan for the Sahara, the Kingdom’s solution to solving half a decade of territorial uncertainty, has been gaining international momentum. 

With the recent UNSC resolution backing the plan, the Polisario’s ambition for secession is slowly fading into improbability. Attention now turns to the updating and detailing of the 2007 initiative, which King Mohammed VI confirmed will be submitted to the United Nations as the sole framework for negotiations.

The 2007 plan proposes a detailed framework for governing the disputed region, and suggests a model of extensive regional autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty, where local institutions manage day-to-day affairs while key matters of national importance remain under the control of the central government in Rabat. 

The core of Morocco’s 2007 autonomy plan

The autonomy proposal, first introduced by Morocco in 2007, is designed to grant the Sahara region significant self-governing powers while preserving Morocco’s territorial integrity. 

The key principle behind the plan is “autonomy under sovereignty”, meaning that the Sahara region would manage most local affairs, but sovereignty over critical areas, including defence, foreign policy, and national security, would remain with the Moroccan government.

Institutional framework

Under the autonomy plan, the Sahara would have a regional parliament composed of representatives elected by local residents. This body would have the authority to legislate in a wide range of areas, including education, culture, local infrastructure, and social services.

The regional parliament would elect a regional executive (a president or government), which would be responsible for the implementation of regional laws and policies.

Key areas of responsibility for the regional government would include:

• Local administration
• Economic development
• Tourism and agriculture
• Health and education services
• Cultural affairs, including the promotion of Sahrawi identity and heritage

Additionally, the region would have regional police forces to handle internal law enforcement, though national security and military matters would remain under the control of the central government.

Financial control and resource management

One of the most contentious aspects of the autonomy plan is how Morocco would manage the region’s natural resources. 

Morocco’s proposal states that the Sahara region would have a significant role in economic development and could share in the revenues from natural resource extraction, such as fisheries and phosphates.

 However, Morocco retains oversight over the major resource contracts, ensuring that these industries operate within a national legal and regulatory framework.

The region would be responsible for raising revenue through local taxes and levies, but it would also receive financial transfers from the national government, ensuring it has the necessary resources to manage its devolved responsibilities. 

The exact details of revenue-sharing, particularly around resource exploitation, remain a critical point of contention, and are expected to be cleared once Morocco submits its much-awaited final updated draft in the upcoming months.

In addition, local resource management will also be outlined by the “central” Moroccan government. A point which both Algeria and the Polisario have attempted to utilize against Morocco’s campaign for the plan.

Key provisions 

1. Sovereignty and national security: Morocco would retain full authority over matters of defence, foreign affairs, and sovereignty, including control over national borders, the military, and international relations. The region would not have the authority to conduct independent foreign policy or military operations.
2. Economic and resource management: The Sahara region would manage local economic development, tourism, agriculture, and infrastructure projects, with the central government providing financial transfers and sharing resource revenues. However, large-scale resource extraction (particularly from industries like phosphates and fisheries) would still fall under national control, with the region receiving a share of profits through revenue-sharing agreements.
3. Cultural and educational autonomy: The plan allows for the development and promotion of Sahrawi culture and identity, including education in the Hassani dialect, local history, and heritage. The region would have the authority to manage schools and social services, subject to the overall framework established by Morocco’s national laws.
4. Local government and elections: The Sahara would hold local and regional elections to elect a regional parliament and executive body. The executive would be responsible for implementing regional laws and policies in areas like health, education, and public order. Local municipal elections would allow citizens to elect representatives at the municipality and provincial levels.
5. Legal and judicial authority: The region would have a regional judicial system, including local courts and a superior regional court. These courts would handle local cases but could be overruled by the national judiciary in specific circumstances, especially where national sovereignty or constitutional matters are concerned.

Political and legal challenges

While the Moroccan autonomy plan grants a substantial degree of self-governance to the Sahara region, key challenges remain in its implementation. One of the most significant hurdles is the question of voter eligibility. 

The population of the Sahara is highly polarized, with a substantial portion of the Sahrawi population living in refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, while others reside in Moroccan regions. The question of which Sahrawis are eligible to vote in regional elections, especially refugees, is a thorny point of contention that has yet to be resolved.

The status of Sahrawi refugees who live in Algeria remains a central political issue. 

Morocco’s plan for autonomy does not provide for a referendum on secession, an option that the Polisario and Algeria insist upon. As such, both parties have vehemently rejected all forms of population census for decades, complicating the voting rights question.

Path to implementation

As Morocco’s autonomy plan heads to be accepted, the first step would likely involve the drafting of a comprehensive regional autonomy statute, which would lay out the details of the electoral process, resource-sharing arrangements, and the allocation of powers between the central government and the regional authorities.

This would need to be approved by both the Moroccan government and, ideally, an international monitoring body to ensure its fairness, under the auspices of the United Nations.

The second step would be the holding of elections, both at the municipal and regional levels. This would give the Sahrawi people a say in their own regional governance. 

Finally, regional institutions would begin functioning, with local governments assuming control over public services, economic development, and other areas of governance. 

Over time, the region would be expected to develop its own legislative and local political identity and institutional framework, though this would still be within the context of Moroccan sovereignty.

Morocco’s autonomy plan for the Sahara represents a substantial offer of self-rule under Moroccan sovereignty, providing the region with significant control over local governance, economic development, and cultural affairs. 

However, its biggest challenge does not rest on its feasibility, nor its ability to solve the conflict’s central question, but in its implementation, which has been marred by 50 years of foreign interference and staunch rejection of diplomatic, political processes.