A leader within the Polisario Front has acknowledged Morocco’s diplomatic superiority and revealed the fragility of the internal front.
For decades, the Western Sahara conflict has stagnated, laden with political and diplomatic tensions, marked by a continuous struggle between Morocco and the Polisario Front, alongside varied regional and international interventions. Against this backdrop, new developments today indicate a radical shift in the balance of power, with unprecedented acknowledgement from within the front’s leadership of Morocco’s diplomatic prowess.
In a groundbreaking move, a prominent leader and opponent of its leader Ibrahim Ghali, Bashir Mustafa Sayed, openly conceded Morocco’s capacity to impose the autonomy initiative as the sole realistic solution to end the Western Sahara dispute.
The former official, known for competing for leadership within the front, described in an internal memo the diplomatic successes of Morocco as having morphed into a “self-evident reality,” questioning what counter-plans the Polisario has, only to sharply respond, “There is no plan… there is a lack of vision and a deficiency in will.”
This stance has sparked wide controversy within the front, with observers considering it a “political earthquake” that reveals the deep divisions undermining the leadership, in light of repeated failures on both the political and human rights fronts, as well as ongoing violations against residents of the refugee camps in Tindouf.
Bashir Mustafa Sayed’s admission comes at a time when Morocco’s position is gaining increasing momentum, demonstrated by the opening of consulates from several African and Arab countries in the cities of Laayoune and Dakhla, alongside the growing international support for the autonomy initiative, which is now being described as “a serious, realistic, and credible solution.”
This new information places the leadership of the Polisario in a predicament, raising increasing questions about its capacity to confront this shift and concerning the future of the secessionist narrative, which has lost much of its political, diplomatic, and even moral leverage amidst rising support for Morocco’s initiative.
