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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 November 1999 Issue No. 455 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 November 1999 Issue No. 455
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Books Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Morocco sacks powerful minister
By Dalal Abu GhazalehThe powerful Moroccan Interior Minister Idriss Basri was sacked by King Mohamed VI this week and replaced by Ahmed Al-Midawi, former head of national security, who lost his post two years ago after a clash with Basri. King Mohamed, who became monarch in July this year following the death of his father King Hassan II, discharged Basri after a meeting at the royal palace in Marrakesh on Tuesday. The new interior minister will be assisted by Fouad Ali Al-Himma, the king's chief of cabinet when he was still crown prince. A new post, secretary of state for the interior, was created for Al-Himma.
The swift move came as a surprise to many observers, who had expected the dismissal, but not so soon. Basri's removal has long been one of the key demands made by the present Moroccan government. Basri, who served the late King Hassan for more than 25 years and had been interior minister since 1979, is a former police officer, who joined the government in April 1974 as a minister in the Ministry of the Interior.
He has long been considered as Morocco's de facto prime minister and was in charge of the thorny issue of Morocco's policies on the Western Sahara. The decision to sack him comes a few days after the Moroccan monarch and his government moved to contain a series of protests, the first in years, by the Sahrawi people at Laayoun, the capital of the disputed Western Sahara territory. In a statement, King Mohamed promised to deal with the Sahara issue in a "new perspective" based on dialogue instead of on confrontation. The new approach follows a report on the issue by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the postponement of a long-promised referendum over the future of the former Spanish colony, and on whether it will be a part of Morocco or whether it will become an independent state.
Members of the new king's team of advisers have argued recently that the government's heavy-handed security policies have been largely to blame for separatist tendencies among the Sahrawi population. They also believe that the security approach pursued by Basri in the territories antagonised the local population, especially the young.
Last week angry Sahrawis demonstrated in the Moroccan capital Rabat, raising banners that denounced Basri as a "coward" and an "abuser of human rights". Shortly after the demonstrations, the new monarch set up a high-level panel to supervise a "fair and transparent" ballot to elect local representatives to the recently established Royal Commission for Sahrawi Affairs. He also removed several government officials and police officers in a bid to ease tension in the territory. A career diplomat was appointed as special co-ordinator with the United Nations Mission for the Referendum on the Western Sahara (MINURSO), replacing a close aide to former Interior Minister Basri.
At a ceremony to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the "Green March" in which Morocco reclaimed its sovereignty over the Western Sahara last Sunday, the young king said that "we have taken it upon ourselves to resolve the issue of the Sahara from a new perspective", and made an offer of amnesty to "disillusioned" Polisario Front independence fighters. This would make it possible for them to return home, the king said, since "the nation is merciful". A special fund was also created to finance projects in the Western Sahara, most of which is presently controlled by Morocco.
However, while reaffirming his respect for democratic values, the king also warned against abuse of the new offer in a clear reference to demonstrators who have taken to the streets on at least three occasions in recent months, burning cars, smashing windows and clashing with police.
Following his speech, the king ordered a number of ministers, accompanied by local and foreign reporters, to tour the territory in a bid to promote his new approach to the Sahara issue. One significant absentee from this tour was Basri, who only last week took reporters to Laayoun to announce the renewed postponement of the long-promised referendum, which had originally been set for January 1992.
In a statement, Moroccan Foreign Minister Mohamed Bin Isa said that the postponement of the referendum was "not Morocco's desire or decision" but was "the decision of the United Nations, since more than 79,000 people have filed requests to become registered voters."
In his report on the situation submitted to the UN Security Council last week Annan said that dealing with these requests could take 10 to 15 months, and that they would affect the referendum's timetable, which was scheduled for 31 July 2000, but has now been again postponed.
A UN-monitored cease-fire has been in force in the territory since 1991, but a referendum on its future has been repeatedly put off because of differences over who is eligible to vote, with the Polisario Front accusing Morocco of trying to pack the voter registration list with 65,000 people who are not indigenous Saharans.
Although Moroccan officials have repeatedly said that Morocco does not see any problem with the referendum's taking place, they have also insisted that the southern provinces remain part of Moroccan territory. "The issue is so emotive, from the king down to the man in the street, and it has united all Moroccans behind a cause, which they feel has been artificially created by Algeria," a veteran Arab diplomat said, referring to support given to the Polisario Front by the latter country.
Although Morocco's experiences in the Western Sahara suggest that money cannot buy the loyalty of the territory's citizens, Rabat continues to pour cash into the desert territory in the hope that the results of any future referendum will be in its favour.
