In a statement by Khalihenna Ould Errachid on Radio France International (RFI) he stressed that self-determination referendum in the Sahara "is impossible and unenforceable" because of the complexity of the identification of voters.
Mr Ould Errachid said that for the completion of this referendum " it would be necessary to change the borders in almost all the Maghreb " this is why the United Nations buried Baker Plan.
"For a genuine referendum based on Saharan tribes, you must change the borders of Morocco, Algeria, Mali, Mauritania, there will be Sahrawi group and there will be no need to define their identity."
Mr. Ould Errachid referred to the applicability of autonomy in the southern provinces of Morocco as a single way out to this issue. “We will achieve our autonomy inspired from past experiences," referring to Catalonian experience.
He called on other parties to engage in negotiations "on the basis of self-governance" to contribute to a settlement of the conflict, pointing out that, contrary to some of accusations, Morocco calls for negotiations as a means to break the current impasse.
He called upon Algeria, which hosts "Polisario" separatists on its soil, to help resolve this problem and expressed optimism about the relationship between the two countries, stressing that "there is no room for concern, there will never be a conflict between Morocco and Algeria."
Here the transcription of the integral text of the interview:
The journalist: Khalihenna Ould Errachid , good morning
Khalihenna Ould Errachid : good morning
The journalist: what is the credibility of the council of sahraoui notables’ radio-controlled by the royal palace?
Khalihenna Ould Errachid: I do not entirely agree with you about this definition, to start with, it is not a council of notables, and then it is not radio-controlled by the royal palace
It is a royal council which represents the the entire sahraoui society, in other word, it is mainly based on the tribal proportionality, and the tribe is quiet represented in the Sahara
This council is certainly not an elected one, but it represents the essence of the sahraoui society, they are people who are leaders of their tribes
The journalist: so you say that you are not radio-controlled, but the impulsion coming from the king took place when he went to Laayoune last march
Khalihenna Ould errachid: absolutely, the impulse yes, his majesty King Mohamed VI wanted to turn the old page concerning reproaches and quarrels between the Moroccan administration and Saharouis, these reproaches and quarrels were behind the creation of Polisario and the conflict of Sahara
The journalist: so you know that there are Sahraouis who are calling for the independence, not only the 100.000 refugees in Tindouf but also youngsters who have taken part of the Intifada last year in Laayoune, so what is your representativeness?
Khalihenna Ould Errachid: first of all there aren’t 100. 000 persons in Tindouf, and the United nations just made it clear
The journalist: 90.000
Khalihenna Ould Errachid: they have said 90.000, but it is certainly the first fork, there are less, even lesser, I suppose there are between 40.00 and 50.000 inhabitants in the camps.
You asked me about the intifada, there is no intifada in Laayoune, events which took place in the southern provinces, in May and October 2005, are small incidents led by sympathisers of the Polisario, and they remain very limited, in fact everybody involved in such incidents have been liberated during the latest amnesty offered by his Majesty king Mohammed VI
The journalist: as you are sure of your representativeness, why did you refuse a referendum about auto determination, which was proposed by James Baker three years ago?
Khalihenna Ould Errachid: iam simply telling you that such referendum is not realisable and impossible, because we have to change almost the whole Maghreb region …. To identify who? Who lives where? And how about the origin? . Here the UN organization was stuck.
In order to organize a true referendum of identification based on the Sahraoui tribes, frontiers of Morocco, Algeria, Mali, and Mauritania should be removed and changed, afterwards you will have the entire entity of Sahraoui therefore the process of identification will not be necessary simply because their origin is from Sahara ; it is a matter of frontiers before the colonization, and the territorial space where the populations live, the inhabitants of Nouadibou , Zouirat , Tindouf Taoudini in north of Mali , all these people should vote . That is why the UN have buried Baker’s plan, it is unrealisable.
The journalist: instead of this referendum, the King has announced a plan of autonomy for the Sahara, and he asked you to come up with some proposals, could we imagine a status which resembles the one in Catalonia in Spain, that is to say everything apart from currency, defence, and foreign policy?
Khalihenna Ould Errachid: yes, we are going to have an autonomy, the Moroccan way, but inspired largely from other experiences already known, and Spain will be definitely a good example
The journalist : in his latest report Mr Kofi Annan recommended direct negotiations between Morocco and Polisario front , which goes well with your aims , but last week the security council has made a step backwards, isn’t it a victory for Algeria and South Africa?
Khalihenna Ould Errachid: not at all, Morocco never says that it has won. Morocco said that we have to negotiate, what I do not understand that some parties say they are not willing to negotiate, how can we conceive this? we can not negotiate and demand to go back to Baker’s plan . Baker’s plan is buried, and definitely dead, in fact it was born dead ; so let us negotiate on the basis of the autonomy , Algeria says that it is not involved, I say to Algeria it is OK, but contribute so we converse and maintain a dialogue with our brothers who are living in Tindouf or Algiers , be cool , I have said to Algeria our brothers…..
The journalist: in fact Morocco is not more and more isolated front of Algeria which is rich in oil, and supported by South Africa?
Khalihenna Ould Errachid : no , South Africa is far away from this problem this is a misunderstanding due to the world cup, and it is a minor problem; but iam happy that Algeria is rich , and I would like to see this wealth contributes in the blooming of the progress of the Maghreb region, I would like to see that this wealth dos not go to the old iron, and it does not buy anymore weapons, I would like also to see Algeria being developed , and be the model to follow, we want to see the experience of Algerians in terms of solving their home problems , helping to sort out the Sahroui problems
The journalist : are you worried of the latest arms contract signed recently between Algeria and Russia
Khalihenna Ould Errachid: not at all, there will be never a conflict between Morocco and Algeria
The journalist: for the last 30 years this conflict is the deadlock, we can see that there is a war of usage between Morocco on one hand and Polisario and Algeria on the other hand; don’t you think that you may loose this war?
Khalihenna Ould Errachid: no, the Polisario movement, is here since 1976, its leaders are here since 1976, the Soviet Union has disappeared, democracy appeared in Africa, but Polisario is always the same, its leaders are the same, camps are run the same way, this situation should be changed
The journalist: this not nice as to Mohamed Abdelaziz?
Khalihenna Ould Errachid : not at all , in fact he is a cousin , I told him , listen Mohamed , come here , you may perfectly win the elections , and we will help you to win it, come to run a real power, a real entity, an autonomy inside Morocco
The journalist: Khalihenna Ould Errachid, thank you