chargement...
In the Tindouf camps, calls for an extraordinary congress of the Polisario Front are growing louder. Supporters of the move, urging that it be held without delay, are openly criticizing the leadership of Brahim Ghali and the current trajectory of the separatist movement.
«The old guard of the Polisario has taken us further away from independence and weakened us politically to unprecedented levels. Today, it is painfully clear that the Polisario Front has lost and given up most of the gains achieved over past decades», wrote a Sahrawi media outlet critical of Morocco.
The outlet added that the «Sahrawi liberation movement is stuck in endless speeches and formal assessments that fail to address the real challenges it faces in a changing world, one marked by multiple fronts and the rise of new threats to the national cause, which demand adaptation and action».
«The old guard is the greatest obstacle to progress»
The same analysis argued that «after fifty years in power, the current dismal situation shows that the old guard leaders are the greatest obstacle to progress. They have fiercely resisted the reforms long demanded by Sahrawi society as a whole, blocking even the most basic principle of power alternation to the detriment of the national cause. Their indefinite grip on power has fueled political defections and extinguished the fighting spirit and revolutionary zeal of the Sahrawis».
It concluded that «under such conditions, it is no surprise that Sahrawi citizens are disengaging from a national liberation movement whose leaders lack initiative and have become a source of instability and stagnation».
At its most recent meeting, held on July 12–13 in the Tindouf camps, the Polisario leadership brushed aside calls for an extraordinary congress. Ghali even pushed to postpone the gathering until late 2026 or early 2027.
Earlier, on May 10, marking the Front’s 52nd anniversary, Sahrawis launched a petition demanding Ghali’s departure. The signatories called for «an extraordinary congress by September 2025 (…) to put forward new policies capable of saving the cause of our people and their struggle».
Meanwhile, Oubi Bachir, regarded by many (particularly among the youth) as the face of potential «renewal», has been sidelined from representing the Polisario in Switzerland.
