Morocco’s two parliamentary chambers held a joint session in Rabat on Monday to review the latest developments in the Western Sahara file, reaffirming what speakers described as national unity behind the Kingdom’s territorial integrity and hailing a new phase following the end of the MINURSO mandate.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Touizi, told the session that the end of MINURSO marks a decisive shift after 35 years and opens a new phase in the national cause, Morocco World News reported. Touizi and the Speaker of the House of Councillors, Mohamed Ould Errachid, called for transforming recent diplomatic gains into stronger institutional mobilization, consolidating national sovereignty and accelerating development in the southern provinces, Le7tv reported.
The session, held as the country marked the first Unity Day instituted by King Mohammed VI, reaffirmed the national consensus around Morocco’s territorial integrity and its autonomy proposal for the territory. Morocco proposes autonomy under its sovereignty, while the Polisario Front, backed by Algeria, seeks a self-determination referendum that includes the option of independence.
The joint sitting followed Friday’s Security Council meeting, where a US-drafted resolution on the mission’s future was vetoed by Russia and a Russian counter-draft failed to win adoption, allowing MINURSO’s mandate to expire at midnight Saturday. The United Nations began liquidating the mission on Sunday, and on Monday reports from Laayoune described staff instructed to stay home, vehicles parked and Moroccan contractors’ contracts ending.
Related: MINURSO Winds Down in Laayoune as Staff Told to Stay Home and Contracts End and Moroccan Parliament to Hold Joint Session on Sahara Developments Monday.
Sources: Morocco World News; Le7tv; Belpresse.
Featured image: The Moroccan Parliament building in Rabat. Photo: Philippe Hassig, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.