Sahara : Is South Africa behind the postponing of the vote on the new resolution ?

The adoption of the new resolution on Western Sahara has been slightly delayed by 24 hours. The draft resolution will be put to the vote of the members of the Security Council on April 30, as confirmed by the new updated version of the UN Security Council’s agenda, coinciding with the day the MINURSO’s mandate ends. This adjournment is not unlike that of October 2018.

Generally speaking, postponements are an opportunity for the parties to reach compromises on points of divergence. If this year, the United States should, as in resolutions 2414 and 2440, continue to extend the mission of MINURSO in the Sahara for another six months, some points may be requiring more negotiations and more time.

The nature of the role assigned to MINURSO in accompanying Horst Köhler during his visits to Western Sahara is not yet unanimous. If Morocco is resolutely opposed to an active involvement of the mission in the process of the talks, arguing that its role is strictly limited to monitoring the ceasefire, South Africa and the United States do not share this position.

In his report, the Secretary General of the UN slammed Morocco for placing «constraints» upon MINURSO in «interlocutors to support the Personal Envoy, to better advise the Council, and to inform the mission’s own security awareness».

He urged «Morocco to remove these constraints and allow free access between the Mission and local interlocutors».

South Africa wants Morocco to be sanctioned

The Polisario also wants an explicit «condemnation» of what it calls «Morocco's ceasefire violations». We learn that South Africa, as a non-permanent member and true spokesman for the Front, is leading a strong lobbying campaign at the UN to lobby for the text to incorporate this demand.

Pretoria wants the Fifteen to treat Morocco and Brahim Ghali's movement equally. In the South African speech, the country recalls in particular that in resolution 2414, adopted on 30 April 2018, the Secretary-General asked the Polisario to stop the «planned relocation of administrative functions to Bir Lahlou» and urged it to «refrain from any such destabilizing actions».

«The Council called specifically on the POLISARO Front to adhere fully to its commitments to the Personal Envoy in respect of Bir Lahlou, Tifariti and the buffer strip at Guerguerat», wrote the UN in its resolution on the Western Sahara conflict.

The country of Ramaphosa, one of the main advocates of the Polisario, will try to convince other members of the Fifteen during this prolongation.