The Kingdom of Morocco is entering a delicate and pivotal stage in engineering its approach to settling the regional conflict over the Moroccan Sahara, through preparing to update the autonomy plan it submitted in 2007. Observers confirm that Rabat is not preparing to present a new proposal to the United Nations, but rather is presenting the vision of a state that has restructured itself territorially for years; from a centralized system that holds all the strings, to an advanced regionalization that gives the decision to the field.

Those interested in the developments of the Moroccan Sahara issue, who spoke to Hespress on this matter, note that the Moroccan constitution provides a solid basis for creating delicate balances between territorial independence and the unity of the state; this can be considered a legal basis capable of accommodating a developed model of self-governance, which makes this approach a natural extension of a national path taken by the Moroccan state through the restructuring of administrative management, and not a geographical exception.

solid base

Al-Buraq Shadi Abdel Salam, a political analyst, said that “updating the autonomy initiative for the southern regions constitutes an organic and consistent extension of the Kingdom’s foundational path in the field of institutional and territorial reform, which established the principle of territorial decentralization as a comprehensive national strategic option, culminating in the advanced regionalization system included in the 2011 Constitution and Organic Law No. 111.14 on regions.”

Al-Buraq added, in a statement to Hespress, that “this update is not a deviation from the rule; rather, it is the ultimate and most developed expression of the principle of branching out and free management, as the procedural legitimacy of the proposal is derived from the proven ability of the state to adapt its administrative structure to accommodate in-depth levels of self-management within the framework of good governance, reinforced by the dual legitimacy of the rule, which is based on the pledge of allegiance to the Commander of the Faithful as an original contract and the supreme guarantor of national unity in its multiple dimensions.”

The same political analyst explained that “the 2011 constitution provides a solid constitutional basis for achieving balance by stipulating the administrative independence of the regions in exchange for emphasizing the common constants, foremost among them territorial unity; this allows for the application of distinct regionalization that may grant the southern regions exceptional powers within a detailed legal system, while preserving the exclusive sovereign powers of the state, so that the proposal is presented as a comprehensive national project with executive, legal and constitutional credibility, and not just an isolated political settlement.”

The same spokesperson stressed that “the internal territorial and political transformations support the legitimacy of the autonomy proposal by demonstrating its suitability and feasibility,” highlighting that “the current institutional rules do not constitute a rigid ceiling; rather, they are a solid foundation that allows for the necessary adaptation to integrate the autonomy initiative organically and effectively within the legal and institutional systems of the state.”

Al-Buraq concluded that “the pledge of allegiance plays a pivotal and legitimate role in the autonomy project, as it constitutes the supreme guarantor of territorial unity, and it is the spiritual and historical basis that requires any delegation of powers to remain under the absolute sovereignty of the King as Commander of the Faithful and symbol of the unity of the nation. This concept gives the proposal an internal contractual and historical depth, and restricts any local authority exercised within the framework of autonomy, thus preventing administrative independence from turning into a separatist tendency, and confirming that autonomy is a manifestation of the royal will and the ongoing covenant with the inhabitants of the region.”

political maneuver

Political analyst Said Berkanane believes that “Morocco’s reaching the stage of obtaining the final Security Council resolution affirming Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara and adopting autonomy as a framework for negotiating a solution to the fabricated conflict was planned by Morocco in several stages: The first stage is the stage of internal consultation between the monarchy and the parties as they represent the citizens, and with the people of the Sahara region who represent the region’s inhabitants and the Sahrawi tribes. Then, after submitting the proposal to the United Nations, the constitutional stage was established to activate expanded regionalization in managing administrative and economic decisions as a first step towards moving in the third stage to allocating the Sahara region with political autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty.”

Berkanane explained, in an interview with the Hespress electronic newspaper, that “the updating of the autonomy document for the Sahara region by the Kingdom of Morocco, following the issuance of the UN resolution, will be a very advanced version of the advanced regionalization model that Morocco has constitutionally adopted since the 2011 constitution.”

The same political analyst explained that “autonomy, according to the models applied in global experiences, can be closer to administrative and legal independence, and it can also be an autonomy based on independence in political decision-making and everything that concerns the political management of the region within the sovereign framework of the state. The latter model is what Morocco has been pushing for since 2007 as a final and serious solution to the fabricated conflict in the Moroccan Sahara region.”

The same spokesperson continued: “Morocco is moving from the model of independent administrative management of the region to expanding this concept in the Sahara region so that it enjoys independence in political, administrative and legal management and manages its regional destiny within the framework of the components of Moroccan sovereignty contained in the autonomy initiative submitted to the United Nations.”

Berkan emphasized that “autonomy is nothing but an independent political management for the Sahara region, and it is an advanced model of administrative autonomy that was constitutionally established since 2011 and has been implemented in practice in a number of regions since 2015, including the Sahara region.”