"Polisario" is a separatist movement which, enjoying Algeria's backing, lays claims to Morocco's southern provinces.
The autonomy project for the Sahara has sparked off a large debate in Morocco, and the "Polisario should also move on," and take a step ahead, before it is too late, wrote on Sunday the daily director, Angel Tristan Pimienta, in an article entitled "Not Sahrawis".
In this article, Pimienta criticizes the attitude of "Polisario Friends" in the Canary Islands at every meeting held in the Spanish archipelago, in the presence either of a Morocco's representative or sympathizers with the Moroccan position.
These acts make "very difficult" the efforts of the archipelago, which aspires to be a "bridge of peace to settle this old conflict in the Maghreb," underlines the journalist, who highlights the changes that have occurred in the area and at the international scene.
The daily notes, in this regard, that King Mohammed VI “has introduced many modernity factors into his country, which should be analyzed within their African and Arab contexts,” and “has made significant strides on the path of democratization,” initiated by “a critical reflection” of the past.
“La Provincia” adds that the creation of a “Truth Commission”- in allusion to the Justice and Reconciliation Commission (IER)- is “one of the new initiatives” launched in Morocco, besides the ongoing debate on the “possibility to introduce, into its territorial organization, an autonomy system,” for the Sahara.
The daily recalls, in this respect, the creation of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS).
“If the Moroccans are briefed of the various formulas to settle this dispute, notably through an autonomy that takes into account the Spanish case... why does not the same thing occur in Tindouf camps, southwestern Algeria?,” wonders Pimienta.
“What will José Maria Aznar say to +SADR+ administration, notably concerning the allegedly democratic character of this entity,” asks the journalist, who notes that “every day, more and more specialized diplomats underline the need that doctrinal radicalism in Tindouf camps should not be a pretext to block the evolution of a population subjected to a pitiless control.”
It is a “step ahead that should be made, the sooner the better,” concludes the Canary Islands daily.