Spain's PM Sanchez isolated by allies due to the Sahara issue

Pedro Sanchez's PSOE finds itself isolated on the Sahara issue in Spain's lower house of parliament. Its coalition partner, Unidas Podemos, and the Basque formations PNV and Bildu, its parliamentary allies, voted in favor of a Popular Party proposal earlier this week, demanding a return to «consensus» and Spain's «neutrality» on the Sahara question.

Vox also joined the other parties, having abstained in April 2022 when the Senate approved a resolution condemning the head of government's position on the Sahara.

The PP conservatives also called on the head of government to provide deputies with information on «the proposals made by the UN Secretary-General's envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, as well as the situation and work of MINURSO».

The Polisario welcomed the adoption of the PP's proposal by the deputies on the Foreign Affairs Committee, although it is non-binding on the government. «Once again, the PSOE has voted against international legality», wrote its representative in Spain on X.

For the record, in September, the president of the People's Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, promised to establish a «parliamentary commission of inquiry» in the Lower House to shed light on the reasons that led Pedro Sanchez to support the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara in March 2022.