The Diplomat
Opposition parties and government partners want Pedro Sánchez’s government to report to parliament on the Spanish-Moroccan summit before it takes place on 1 and 2 February in Rabat.
The reticence about the government’s attitude towards Morocco has increased, after last Thursday, the vast majority of PSOE MEPs in the European Parliament voted against a resolution demanding that Rabat respect freedom of expression and release several imprisoned critical journalists.
The High Level Meeting (HLM) with Morocco will be the first to be held since June 2015 and will take place ten months after the Sánchez government made a U-turn in Spain’s position on Rabat’s claims to Western Sahara, describing the Moroccan proposal for autonomy as ‘the most serious, realistic and credible basis’ for resolving the dispute.
Thus, PP, Vox and Ciudadanos yesterday expressed their desire for a specific appearance of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, in Parliament.
The PP’s proposal, defended by its deputy Pablo Hispán, was backed by Vox and Ciudadanos. “This embarrassing farce should make Albares appear every day,” said the deputy spokesman for the ‘oranges’, Edmundo Bal.
The proposal was also supported by Esquerra Republicana de Cataluña, one of the groups that support the Executive in Congress. The MP Marta Rosique wanted to make it clear that on the issue of Morocco “the PSOE is alone and does not have the support” of Congress.
For his part, the senator from Más Madrid, Pablo Gómez Perpinyá, requested that Albares appear in the Senate, stating: “When faced with the violation of fundamental rights, there are always two paths: to be part of the solution or part of the problem. Spain needs a foreign policy independent of Morocco with respect to the conflict in the Sahara”.
Other formations that have usually given their parliamentary support to the government, such as the PNV, Bildu and Compromís, have called on Pedro Sánchez to address this issue in the plenary session of the Congress of Deputies and to give explanations on the position that Moncloa maintains in relation to the Alaouite kingdom, taking advantage of his scheduled presence today to report on the last two European Union Councils.
The abertzale Mertxe Aizpurua affirmed that “the PSOE was left alone defending its turnaround and is also alone in Europe” and asked: “In whose name are they going to Morocco? “They have sold out the Saharawi people in exchange for who knows what, but they do not have a majority to take unilateral decisions”, she added.
Likewise, the spokesperson for Ciudadanos in Congress, Inés Arrimadas, will ask Sánchez today in the plenary session of the Lower House about the PSOE’s vote against the resolution on human rights in Morocco in the European Parliament.
Despite being part of the coalition government, Unidas Podemos also criticised the position maintained by Moncloa in relation to Morocco, although it avoided pronouncing itself on the demand for explanations. According to its spokesman, Gerardo Pisarello, this new policy on the Sahara reflects “followerism” with the United States and puts relations with Algeria at risk.
As the RAN is scheduled for 1 and 2 February in Rabat, the explanations demanded of the government should be made during the remainder of January, which is a non-working month for parliamentary purposes, as established by the Constitution. For this reason, the PP yesterday requested that the Permanent Deputation allow the Foreign Affairs Committee to convene to receive the appearance of Albares in order to explain how the coalition government is facing this meeting and to detail the “good number of agreements” that the minister has announced.
Sánchez will go to the summit with a dozen ministers, but all of them from the socialist party. Neither the vice-president, Yolanda Díaz, nor the ministers of Podemos and IU will travel to Rabat. Both Podemos and IU were in Algeria a week ago for a meeting with the Western Saharan authorities, including their leader Brahim Ghali.
