A Referendum in the Moroccan Sahara Is 'Obsolete and Unworkable' - Ambassador

Holding a referendum in the Moroccan Sahara is “obsolete and unworkable,” said Morocco’s ambassador in Lisbon, Othmane Bahnini.

Morocco “tried to implement the referendum for 10 years, from 1991 to 2000 under the auspices of the UN, without success, which explains the autonomy proposal presented by the Kingdom to break the deadlock and find a political solution to this dispute,” the Moroccan diplomat said in an interview published by Portuguese daily “Diario De Noticias.”

“The solution can only be reached through negotiation and political dialogue”, Bahnini said, noting that Morocco wants the resumption of the political process on the basis of clear parameters and criteria as defined by the Security Council resolutions since 2007.”

These include “negotiation as the only way to achieve a mutually acceptable political solution, realism and spirit of commitment as fundamental elements to move the negotiations forward, the implication of all the parties in the political process, the prominence of Morocco’s autonomy initiative deemed as credible and serious by the Security Council, and the organisation by Algeria of a census of the populations in the Tindouf camps,” the diplomat explained, stressing that Algeria’s responsibility as a party to the conflict is well established, as stated in the resolutions of the UN Security Council.

On the Moroccan autonomy proposal submitted by the kingdom on April 11, 2007, Bahnini said that it is an “initiative that is consistent with international legality, the United Nations Charter and Security Council resolutions, as well as the right to self-determination.”