PUSL.- The International Conference on African Development (TICAD) VII Ministerial Meetings, in Japan Tokyo, which ends on Sunday was delayed one day due to the pressure of a huge Moroccan delegation wanting to exclude the SADR (Saharawi Arabic Democratic Republic) to attend the meeting.
Yesterday (5/10) the TICAD meeting at senior official level was canceled. The Japanese refused to authorize credentials to the delegation of the Saharawi Republic and did not put their plaque with the name of the country as for the other Member States in the conference room.
The Chair of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREP) refused to proceed with the opening of the meeting that had to prepare the documents for the ministerial meeting scheduled for today without the presence and identification of the SADR.
Since this morning (6/10) the denials and negotiations continued between the Commission and the Japanese. The Moroccan delegation arrived with a large number of participants led by the delegate minister for African affairs.
The delegation of the representatives of the SADR was clear in ti’s demands, the full participation of SADR with all privileges and status as all other Member States. If Japan would not accede to this requirement, the Conference should simply be canceled or rescheduled.
The position of Japan was cause of surprise by many delegations who wondered about this radical position and the fact that it aligned itself with the position of a single country against almost an entire continent and against relations with a large organization such as the African Union.
The only form that the absecence of the identification plaque for the SADR would be allowed, as was made clear during the negotiations that where held during the afternoon would be that no names of the participating countries would be in the Room. Only 55 tables for 55 delegations of the African Union.
After an intense negotiation the SADR delegation received their name plaque and was given the same treatment as any other delegation, represententing one blow more to the Moroccan Kingdom and it’s hostile and aggressive manouveres inside the African Union towards the Saharawi.
In all meetings organized or in which the African and it’s members participate, the Moroccan Kingdom has been disrespectful, aggressive (even attacked one SADR ambassador physically) and insulting towards the Saharawi delegation and the African Union.
This continuous behavior of the Moroccan Kingdom is a breach to all diplomatic norms and also a disrespect of the African Union Charta.
The TICAD meeting is co-organized by United Nations Development programme (UNDP), the World Bank and Africa Union Commission and United Nations.
Ministers from 54 African Countries are gathering to discuss the implementation of TICAD V and VI actions and prepare for the TICAD VII Summit to be held in Yokohama, Japan, from 28 to 30 August 2019.
TICAD is a conference held regularly to promote high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and development partners. TICAD was inaugurated in 1993 and the series have included: TICAD I (1993); TICAD II (1998); TICAD III (2003); TICAD IV (2008); TICAD V (2013), and lastly TICAD VI, which took place for the first time outside Japan, in Kenya in August 2016.
