Morocco, supported by France, has spent nearly three decades trying to prevent the holding of the referendum for the self-determination of the Saharawi people ”, assured, Tuesday, the former security adviser of American President Trump, John Bolton. “With France and other allies in the Security Council, (Morocco) has tried, unfortunately with some success, to disrupt (the application) of resolution 690 relating to the referendum,” he said in a column published in the online magazine Foreign Policy. “Rabat made a multitude of pseudo-autonomy proposals, none of which could be accepted by the Polisario,” suggesting (globally) a referendum in which a choice had to be made between integration into (Moroccan) territory and “autonomy”.
For the Sahrawis, “it was a take it or leave it offer that has always been unacceptable,” he said. Bolton recalled that “from a Moroccan point of view, this kind of so-called peace process could last forever”, noting that “not only does Morocco control large swathes of Saharawi territory militarily, but it is working to send successive waves of Moroccans to settle in the territories, thus attempting to drown the Sahrawi population ”. John Bolton recalled that “the Polisario did not abandon its war for a peace process, but for a referendum”, alluding to the ceasefire, which entered into force in 1991 and broke last November 13th. “If Morocco does not accept a referendum, it does not deserve a ceasefire or a bogus peace process,” he ruled.
The referendum or the war
“The Polisario is living at a crucial moment and its decision would be totally justified if it returned to arms”, he said. “For the Polisario, Trump’s about-face is more than disappointing,” he noted, referring to the announcement made by the outgoing US president about his country’s recognition of so-called Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. This announcement “shattered an American commitment perceived as unshakeable and which I tried to defend and advance when I was a security adviser, often against the will of the State Department which was trying to find a way to strengthen Morocco’s control over Western Sahara, ”said the former official, who left the Trump administration in 2018.
Biden can overturn Trump’s decision
“Trump’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty (over Western Sahara) dangerously undermines decades of carefully crafted US policy,” further lamented John Bolton. Taking up the arguments of pro-Saharawi American senator James Inhofe, he estimated that Moroccans and Israelis could have normalized their relations without sacrificing the Saharawi people, highlighting a desire for rapprochement that has existed on both sides for many years. years and rather “warm” informal relations. “The best thing for Biden to do as soon as he takes office would be to reverse the ruling on Moroccan sovereignty. It won’t be easy given the ill-inspired expectations from Rabat and (Israel). If Biden wants to make a 180 degree turnaround, he will have to do it immediately after installation, it will minimize the damage, ”Bolton argued. According to him, Biden and his advisers could say that Trump’s about-face was being examined, by “insisting that the referendum remains a prerequisite for the United States to consider the Sahrawi problem as solved” .
Algeria should have been consulted
The former head of the National Security Council (NSC) thinks that Algeria should have been consulted by the United States before Trump’s announcement was made, along with “the Polisario, Mauritania and others countries concerned by the question ”. “(Trump’s) flippant approach to announcing another shallow victory will cause significant stability problems in the Maghreb,” he added. “This is what happens when an amateur takes charge of American diplomacy,” he noted, accusing Trump of being unable to deal with complex political issues and of having a propensity to make “deals.” », Alluding to his profile as a businessman. “I was in the Oval Office on May 1, 2019, when the Oklahoma Senator (James Inhofe) was explaining why he was in favor of a referendum. Trump then told him that he had never heard of Western Sahara, and Inhofe replied: We talked about it before but you weren’t listening to me ’’, Bolton said.
