(LUSA) – The President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), Brahim Ghali, re-elected in January at the congress of the Polisario Front (PF), appointed a new government that favours diplomacy, without forgetting the military aspect, an official source told today.
According to a statement sent today to Lusa, Ghali reappointed Bucharaya Hemudi Beyun as Prime Minister and appointed Mohamed Sidati, spokesman of the recent Polisario congress, held last January in which the liberation movement decided to end the ceasefire in force in Western Sahara since 1991 and return to the armed struggle against Morocco, accused of occupying the former Spanish colony in 1975.
In statements to Lusa, the Polisario representative in Portugal, Omar Mih, stressed that Ghali, President of SADR and secretary general of the liberation movement, was concerned to form, despite everything, a “non-militarised” government.
“It is not a militarised government, but a government that has to respond to the demands of the current situation, both politically but also militarily, socially and diplomatically,” Omar Mih said.
About the Prime Minister, an economist by training, Omar Mih stressed that he was reappointed for the third time in the post, having held other positions in Polisario in the past, such as governor of the ‘wilaya’ (province) of Smara and representative of the movement in Spain and Algeria.
He said that Mohamed Sidati, who was spokesman at the last Polisario congress, had been the movement’s representative in France, the European Union (EU) and South Africa.
“There is a strong focus on diplomacy, especially in Europe, Africa and Latin America, as evidenced by the appointment of Mohamed Sidati. The objective of Polisario continues to be to get the UN to apply international law and the 1991 Peace Agreement, which was the only one accepted by the two parties and unanimously by the Security Council. Diplomacy remains an indispensable task”, Mih stressed.
The new executive now has 20 members fewer than the previous one, but Mih highlighted the presence of three women at the head of ministries, including the important Interior Ministry.
On the other hand, of the five new governors of the refugee camps appointed by Ghali, three are women.
Morocco, for whom the referendum of self-determination for Western Sahara is no longer an issue, defends and has promoted the proposal to give greater autonomy to the territory, which is flatly rejected by the Polisario Front.
The former Spanish colony is considered as a “non-self-governing territory” by the UN, although Rabat has control of almost 80% of this almost desert territory of 266,000 square kilometres.
