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After categorically rejecting in September 2023 the path of «realism» and «compromise» advocated by the Biden administration’s envoy in the Tindouf camps, the Polisario now appears ready to embrace this approach by September 2025.
The Front has begun to signal a change of course. Following its meeting on September 5, the permanent office of its general secretariat reaffirmed its commitment to work «towards achieving a just, peaceful, and mutually acceptable political solution».
Notably, the statement released by the Polisario’s press agency omitted key demands that have been central to its rhetoric for five decades: «the organization of a self-determination referendum», «the independence of Western Sahara», «the right to pursue and intensify its legitimate armed struggle», and the implementation of the 1988 UN–OAU settlement plan.
The Polisario and the Trump Factor
This turnaround, announced on Friday, September 5 while Brahim Ghali was in Algiers, coincided with discussions in Washington the same day between Massad Boulos, special advisor to President Donald Trump for Africa, and Staffan de Mistura, the UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy for Western Sahara. «I reiterated the clear position of the United States: genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only viable solution for Western Sahara», Boulos stated.
Just weeks earlier, the UN Secretary-General had urged in a report to the General Assembly that «all concerned parties strive to change course without delay».
It is worth recalling that the Polisario had publicly rejected the proposal presented in September 2023 by Joshua Harris. During discussions with the U.S. diplomat, Brahim Ghali insisted on «creating the necessary conditions for the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to implement the mandate entrusted to it by the Security Council under the 1991 Settlement Plan».
At the time, the Front also condemned all Security Council resolutions calling for «a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution that allows for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara». Following the adoption in October 2022 of Resolution 2654 by the Council, the Polisario declared it «would not participate in any peace process based on a distorted approach, in form or substance, to the settlement plan jointly proposed in 1988 by the UN and the Organization of African Unity».
This stance was reaffirmed as recently as June 2, 2025. «The only possible solution is one based on practical and reasonable consensus, namely the joint settlement plan developed by the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity, accepted by both the Polisario Front and Morocco in 1988 and unanimously approved by the Security Council in 1990 and 1991», the movement stressed in a statement.
In a message addressed to King Mohammed VI on the occasion of the Throne Day celebration on August 2, President Donald Trump reiterated that «the United States of America recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and supports the Moroccan Autonomy Proposal—deemed serious, credible, and realistic—as the sole basis for a just and lasting settlement of this dispute».
