The Diplomat
The Polisario Front delegate in Spain, Abdulah Arabi, said in a statement yesterday that the trip to Morocco of the acting Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, demonstrates “the indisputable support” of Spain “to a decadent regime that systematically, daily and with impunity violates the human rights of the people of Western Sahara”.
“Although it has been quick to insist on confining this trip to the strictly private sphere – and even if it is of this nature – this choice carries with it a huge political content that goes far beyond the private sphere“, the statement said.
Arabi claims that the Moroccan press has echoed Sánchez’s holiday destination, thus alluding to the “absolute support” of the Spanish government “to the illegitimate claim maintained by Morocco over Western Sahara”.
In this sense, he affirms that the holiday destination of the acting Prime Minister “is the only fact” on which Rabat can sustain itself in the face of “the difficult situation in which it is constantly placed by the law”.
“For his part, throughout this year and a half, the unilateral nature of Sánchez’s radical turnaround regarding Western Sahara, known in March 2022, has been confirmed in the political sphere. A position that was immediately rejected by Spanish civil society”, it adds.
Criticism from government partners
In addition to protests from PP and Vox, Sánchez’s choice to spend his family holiday in Marrakech has also provoked criticism from his government partners. Podemos MEP Idoia Villanueva criticised the PSOE leader for “showing his complacency with Morocco, day after day, and while Morocco continues to violate fundamental rights with total impunity”. In a message published on her social networks, she also supported the Saharawi people’s right to self-determination.
Although the leader of Sumar, Yolanda Díaz, has not commented on the matter, one of the coalition’s member parties, Izquierda Unida (IU), also backed the Polisario’s statement, considering that Sánchez’s trip shows that Spain supports a “regime” that “violates human rights” with impunity. From its official account, IU affirms that “we will continue to fight against those who ignore international law and the brutality of the Moroccan occupation”.
