Spain: “Bill Compelling PM Pedro Sanchez To Support The Saharawis’ Legitimate Right To Self-Determination”
The untoward Spanish position on the Western Sahara issue has turned into a snowball that grows with the passage of days, threatening the fall of the Pedro Sanchez government, as it is now called more than ever to reverse its illegal decision, with an order that may be issued by the Spanish Parliament that requires it to support the inalienable right of the Saharawi people to self-determination.
The growing political movement in Spain coincides with Sanchez’s position, with the anger of large segments of the political class in the Iberian Peninsula, blaming the Spanish government for its position that angered Algeria, as the main supplier of gas to Madrid, and caused the recall of its ambassador, Said Moussa, followed by a decision to raise gas prices in commitments as part of contractual terms between the two countries between 2020 and 2022.
In this regard, the blocs represented in the Spanish Parliament opposing the decision of Sanchez in support of the proposal for a self-determination in Western Sahara decided to submit a bill that would force the Madrid government to reverse its decision on autonomy, and support the United Nations resolution calling for the organization of a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara.
The draft will be discussed next Friday, in light of a political debate, marked by intense anger from the Spanish opposition and even partner parties in the government, which did not accept the “sudden deviation” in Madrid’s position on the Western Sahara issue.
The project is not only supported by the opposition parties, but also by the partner in the government, Podemos, which has a deputy prime minister as well as ministers, among them Labor Minister Yolanda Diaz, who was highly critical of Sanchez’s nefarious decision.
The new draft proposed to the Spanish deputies proposes voting on a resolution that requires the government of Pedro Sanchez to announce support for organizing the referendum for self-determination in Western Sahara, a decision backed by the United Nations, and was approved by the former Moroccan King, Hassan II, before the two parties reached Under the auspices of the United Nations, a ceasefire decision in 1991, which collapsed, as is known, on November 13, 2020, following the Moroccan army’s attack on Sahrawi activists who were peacefully demonstrating at the Guerguerat crossing.
In a plenary session, the Spanish Parliament is considering a bill stressing the need for the government to support the self-determination referendum demanded by the Polisario Front, and the government will also face up to another proposal aimed at the same thing, but through the parliamentary committee in charge of international development cooperation, as a reaction to describing Sanchez’s government of the so-called autonomy proposal as the most “serious, realistic and credible”.
For the first time, the anger of the Spaniards from the Sanchez government is transmitted from political and media statements to the institutions of the Spanish state, because the project at the parliament level received the majority of votes, which means pushing the Spanish government to back down on its position in support of the autonomy project presented by the Makhzen regime in 2007, and this contingency would deal a hard blow to the government that would lead to its downfall.
