The word is crystal-clear and, above all, fraught with consequences: When, in August 2022, Mohammed VI referred to Western Sahara as a "prism" through which the Cherifian kingdom would henceforth judge its international environment, he meant it. For Rabat, the time for diplomatic caution is over. The time has come to separate true friends from fake ones. In his famous speech, the King called on the kingdom's "partners" whose "positions on the Sahara issue are ambiguous" to "clarify" them.
The allusion is aimed first and foremost at France, which is in a hurry to formally recognize Morocco's "sovereignty" over the former Spanish colony, a territory to Morocco's south (266,000 square kilometers, with a population of approximately 600,000), which is disputed by the Algerian-backed independence fighters of the Polisario Front. Hesitant, and anxious to find a balance between Rabat and Algiers, Paris has not yet taken the plunge. This wait-and-see attitude has exasperated the Moroccans and fueled ongoing diplomatic tensions between the two countries, especially since the dispute over the borders of the Sahara is a legacy of the French colonization of Algeria. This is probably the crux of the bilateral crisis. The media who are close to the palace say so very explicitly. "It's a safe bet that if tomorrow, President Macron takes the historic decision to recognize the Moroccan nature of the Sahara (...), the Franco-Moroccan partnership will be relaunched on a new footing," said the online newspaper Hepsress.
The claim to the "southern provinces" – the Moroccan terminology for Western Sahara – is a sacred patriotic cause in Morocco, regardless of political persuasion. Indeed, it was the "Green March" of October 1975, which precipitated Spain's departure from the area, that enabled King Hassan II to restore his legitimacy, tainted by two coup attempts in 1971 and 1972. In the eyes of Rabat, which has taken control of 80% of the territory, its "Moroccanness" cannot even be disputed, given "historical rights" conferred by ancient tribal allegiances.
However, the United Nations sees Western Sahara as a "non-self-governing territory" with a right to self-determination. Since 1991, Security Council resolutions have provided for a referendum, but this has never taken place due to a lack of agreement on the composition of the electorate and Moroccan obstruction. In the hope of regaining control, Mohammed VI presented his autonomy plan in 2007, with the active collaboration of... Paris. "I really put my blood, sweat, and tears into convincing our Western partners to support Morocco's autonomy plan at a time when France was all alone on this issue," recalled a former French ambassador to Rabat. There's definitely a certain irony in seeing Paris, a historic supporter of the royal plan, now in the hot seat in Morocco over the issue of the Sahara.
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