Nearly two decades after the restructuring of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs in its second version by King Mohammed VI, who in a speech in 2006 from the city of Laayoune called for this council to be “an effective institution in the development of the southern provinces and an effective mechanism for mobilizing and organizing citizens, as well as a proposing force, emanating from the genius of the brave sons of the Sahara,” the debate is renewed about the position of this advisory body and its role in keeping pace with the political and diplomatic transformations taking place in the issue of the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Morocco, especially in the context of the workshop to update and detail the autonomy plan established by the last Security Council Resolution No. 2797 on the Moroccan Sahara.

According to Decree No. 1.06.81 issued on March 25, 2006, relating to “CORCAS” (the short name of the Council), the latter exercises a set of powers; the most important of which is submitting proposals to the King regarding initiatives, projects and measures relating to a number of areas, such as the return and integration of all Moroccans originating from the southern provinces into the fold of the homeland, and those also relating to the defense of territorial integrity and national unity and the strengthening of national solidarity, whether in the southern provinces or the rest of the regions of the Kingdom.

Historical roles

Mohammed El Ghaith Maouelainine, Vice President of the Moroccan Center for Parallel Diplomacy and Dialogue of Civilizations, said that “the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs in its first version had its role partially frozen after 1991 following the launch of the UN settlement plan in the Sahara and the start of the identification process, in favor of the institution of sheikhs and tribes whose roles were more appropriate to the requirements of that stage.”

Maouelainine added, in a statement to Hespress, that “with the cessation of the identification process, it too came to a halt. And with the speech of King Mohammed VI in 2005, in which he announced Morocco’s readiness to establish autonomy in the southern provinces, and the speech that followed in Laayoune the following year, in which he announced the renewal of the composition of ‘CORCAS’ with the aim of giving dynamism to its work, this advisory institution regained its momentum and made significant contributions to enriching the debate and negotiations on the Sahara issue and autonomy; including participation in the first and second ‘Manhasset’ negotiations.”

The Vice President of the Moroccan Center for Parallel Diplomacy and Dialogue of Civilizations added: “But starting from 2011, during which Morocco took steps towards enshrining the option of expanded regionalization in the new constitutional document, and participatory democracy and electoral representation, the role of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs declined again in favor of the elected officials in the southern provinces, in line once again with the political, constitutional and diplomatic developments that Morocco witnessed at this stage of its history, and its members, who represent the elected bodies, began to perform their roles in this latter capacity from within the national political parties.”

The same spokesperson explained that “this council needs, today, to reconsider its composition or even its tasks after about two decades since the last update of this composition; but this does not negate the important roles it played in previous stages in the Moroccan Sahara issue, especially since the majority of its members have either passed away or no longer occupy the positions to which they were appointed in this body, or are in a health condition that does not allow them to keep up with the aspirations of this current stage as required.”

Ma’a El Ainin stressed that “the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs should not only be viewed in the context of this crucial stage in the history of the Kingdom’s territorial integrity file, with the importance of reconsidering its roles and adapting them to current developments, and increasing the representation of the new elites that have emerged in the Sahara within it; and even reconsidering the principles of representation in the Sahara in accordance with the large unexploited margins provided by the 2011 Constitution, and also in line with the specificity of the southern provinces.”

Negotiating party

Ahmed Nour Eddine, a researcher in international affairs and an expert on the Moroccan Sahara issue, said that “raising the role of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs is not a current issue, and it is not in our interest to hit the pro-unity people with friendly fire, because it would be a free gift to Morocco’s enemies, but this role can be approached through who has the right to sit at the negotiating table called for by the UN Security Council.”

Noureddine explained, in a statement to Hespress, that “what is necessary now is to talk about how to impose the integration of this council and impose it within a list of other negotiators at the negotiating table; because the last Security Council resolution speaks of a solution under Moroccan sovereignty and of negotiations between the parties, not the two parties, in the original English version of the resolution and not in the version included in its translation into Arabic, which was subjected to the whims of Algerian petrodollars.”

The expert on the Western Sahara issue continued: “The decision did not specify these parties; therefore, we must advocate and work to include other parties, indeed all parties, in this negotiation process, because by what right will the separatist front give itself the right to speak exclusively on behalf of the Sahrawi population?” before answering by quoting the popular proverb: “The first day the cat dies,” to emphasize the importance of openness and even imposing other negotiators outside the Moroccan delegation.

Noureddine noted that “there are many parties at various levels who have the right to be present at the negotiating table, outside the framework of the Polisario Front, Algeria, or even Mauritania; the first of these is the category of elected officials, including parliamentarians from the southern provinces, the heads of the three regions, and the heads of the groups, in addition to the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs, which can enter as a party to the negotiations.”

The same spokesperson pointed out that “there are other parties as well; including the movements that broke away from the Polisario organization, such as the ‘Martyr’s Line’ movement and the ‘Sahrawi Movement for Peace’, which includes founders and former officials who held many positions in the fictitious republic, in addition to those who returned to Morocco who should also be represented, and who also previously held leadership positions within the Polisario.”