Morocco Officially Submits Request to Return to African Institutional Family

Morocco has officially submitted a request to regain its place as a member of the African Union (AU) during a meeting between Royal Advisor Taieb Fassi Fihri and the AU Commission Chairperson, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, on the sidelines of the 71st Session of the United Nations.

The Kingdom of Morocco has officially submitted a request to accede to the African Union (AU) Constitutive Act, and therefore, become a Member of the Union,” the AU said in a statement.

In a speech last July, King Mohammed VI made it clear “This decision does not, of course, mean that Morocco will relinquish its legitimate rights, nor recognize a pseudo entity lacking the basic elements of sovereignty which was imposed on the African Union, in flagrant violation of the latter’s charter.”

The Monarch added that Morocco’s return to the pan-African organization “reflects our keenness to continue defending our interests from within the African Union and to enhance cooperation with our partners, at the bilateral and regional levels.”

During the last AU summit, a group of 28 member states of the African union addressed a motion to the AU chair expressing support to Morocco’s return to its African family and demanding the suspension of the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Republic from the pan-African organization.

Morocco withdrew from the predecessor of the AU, the Organization of African Unity in 1984, on grounds of the biased decision of the organization, which violated neutrality in the Sahara conflict by admitting the Algeria-based SADR separatist entity as a full-fledged member. Since then Morocco has been conditioning its return to the pan-African body on the withdrawal of the Polisario membership and the respect of the UN-brokered political process to settle the Sahara issue.