Chilean Parliament Supports Morocco’s Position on Sahara

The Chilean parliament adopted with a sweeping majority a resolution supporting Morocco’s initiative to grant the Sahara a substantive autonomy.

Sixty-six Chilean MPs voted in favor, 11 against and 22 abstained. This outspoken support for the autonomy initiative, which Morocco presented to the UN in 2007 as a lasting solution to the Sahara dispute, is reflective of a steady Chilean position in favor of Morocco’s territorial integrity.

The Chilean executive has always backed Morocco’s stance on the regional dispute over the Sahara but the Parliament has deviated from the government’s position. In this respect, the adoption of this resolution adds to the credibility of Morocco’s autonomy initiative and puts a nail in the coffin of the Polisario, which has campaigned for the Algerian-nurtured separatist thesis in Latin America for decades.

Chilean MPs underscored in the resolution the pre-eminence of the autonomy initiative, which, they said, offers a “serious and credible solution” for a lasting settlement of the regional dispute.

They also said that such an initiative will enable the local population in the Sahara to run their own affairs democratically through their elected bodies under Morocco’s national sovereignty.

The resolution notes the significant progress made by Morocco in terms of democratization and the promotion of human rights.

The resolution also includes a call on the Chilean government, in its capacity as member of the United Nations, to support and commit to the UN Security Council Resolution No. 1754, adopted on April 30, 2007.