The MSP requests to join the UN political process on Western Sahara
The Movement Saharawi for Peace (MSP) has conveyed to the UN Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, its interest in participating in the political process that is expected to be reactivated in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2797, after several years of stagnation.
These proposals were set out in a letter sent this week to the UN envoy by the MSP's first secretary, Hach Ahmed Bericalla.
‘The MSP, founded more than five years ago,’ the letter states, 'represents a significant sector of the Sahrawi population originating from the territory that aspires to a peaceful, realistic and lasting solution to the conflict'. It also stresses that the Movement does not represent the Polisario Front, Algeria or Morocco, and that its position does not respond to the interests of any of the parties involved in the political process to date, but exclusively to ‘the desire to contribute to a speedy peaceful solution that benefits the entire Sahrawi people after half a century of exile and suffering’.
The Movement considers that the absence, until now, of a truly independent third Sahrawi voice in the negotiations is what explains the lack of progress for more than three decades, estimating that ‘a more inclusive and flexible approach is what can break the trend of irreconcilable positions and facilitate the construction of an acceptable agreement, with the necessary international guarantees’.
The letter highlights that ‘the authority and powers conferred on Mr De Mistura by Resolution 2797 and by the influential countries of the Security Council’ allow for innovation and the exploration of new formulas that could help to overcome the current deadlock. The MSP also warns that ‘the exclusion of the only Sahrawi organisation that explicitly advocates a peaceful path and a compromise solution could send a counterproductive and negative message, rewarding those who favour violence and armed struggle or maximalist positions.’
The MSP also reported that it has a high-level delegation ready to hold official contacts within the framework of the relaunch of the peace process recommended by the Security Council in its Resolution 2797.
