For a democratic Saharawi dialogue
The Movement Saharawi for Peace (MSP) has issued an official statement in which it demands the Polisario Front to hold an open and plural debate for its reform, thus discarding the words of the brother of the Polisario's founder, Bachir Mustafa Sayed, who called for a national conference which would be limited to activists and commissioners of the organisation to "save" the reform process and avoid its collapse.
The MSP denounces the "state of agony" suffered by the Polisario Front and demands an open process with the participation of all the existing currents, including representatives of the MSP itself, with a dialogue to be held in a neutral country with international observers.
The official statement of the MSP is reproduced below:
For a democratic Saharawi dialogue
The declarations of the brother of the founder of the Polisario Front, Bachir Mustafa Sayed, confirm the diagnosis and prognoses of the SPM concerning the deep crisis which the old armed movement is currently going through and the uncertainty which hangs over its future.
The call made by the former "number two" of the Polisario leadership to urgently convene a national conference to "save" or straighten out the process and prevent its collapse reflects not only the state of panic that has gripped the old leadership, but above all the seriousness of the crisis and the state of agony in which the guerrilla movement, created in the 1970s, finds itself.
The recipe proposed by the former number two is simply wrong and can hardly contribute to remedying the variety of ills that are eating away at the structures, credibility and image of the Polisario in 2024. Convening yet another "national conference" limited to activists and commissioners of the organisation's bodies will be a useless effort, more of the same, a simple hot cloth that will only prolong the state of coma.
From the MSP we recommend the opening of a serious debate, a deep reflection in an atmosphere of freedom and democracy and from an agenda open to all options and with the participation of representatives of the Movement Saharawi for Peace and other opposing political currents, as well as a broad representation of the traditional authority and the Saharawi civil society. Another indispensable condition for it to be a historic and decisive meeting in favour of dialogue and peace has to do with the venue, i.e., that it be held in a neutral country and have the presence of international observers.