Morocco's Parliament calls joint Sahara session Monday after UN deadlock

Morocco’s Parliament will convene both chambers in a special session Monday to address the latest Sahara developments, after two failed UN Security Council votes left MINURSO without a renewed mandate and the Royal Cabinet declared the UN-led political process suspended.

The presidents of the House of Representatives and House of Councillors called on lawmakers to attend the November 2 meeting at 1 p.m., according to a joint notice reported Saturday.

The notice said Parliament would hold a “special joint plenary session devoted to examining the latest developments in the national cause,” without announcing a detailed agenda or proposed measures.

The meeting follows Friday’s Security Council confrontation, in which Russia vetoed an American draft backed by 11 members that sought to renew and restructure MINURSO while establishing Morocco’s autonomy initiative as the sole basis for negotiations.

A competing Russian proposal for a one-year extension also failed, receiving three votes in favor, one against and 11 abstentions.

The Royal Cabinet subsequently described the non-renewal as a significant step toward closing the Sahara file at the United Nations. It said MINURSO’s personnel, vehicles and equipment should leave Morocco’s southern provinces in the coming days and declared the UN political process suspended.

The statement also said the development should end the Security Council’s periodic consideration of the dispute, including reports by the Secretary-General and briefings by his Personal Envoy, while announcing further steps concerning other UN bodies.

Parliament last convened a comparable Sahara session on November 3, 2025, following the adoption of Security Council Resolution 2797, which gave Morocco’s autonomy initiative greater prominence in negotiations.

That gathering produced political statements rather than legislation. Parliamentary leaders praised King Mohammed VI’s diplomatic efforts, welcomed the resolution and called for stronger parliamentary diplomacy through exchanges with foreign legislatures and international organizations.

Any move to implement Morocco’s autonomy initiative would involve a separate legal process. The proposal submitted to the United Nations in 2007 envisages a negotiated autonomy statute granting the Sahara its own legislative, executive and judicial institutions while reserving sovereign powers, including national defense and foreign affairs, to the Moroccan state.

Paragraph 29 of the initiative explicitly provides for constitutional revision, stating that the autonomy statute would be incorporated into Morocco’s Constitution to guarantee its durability and special legal status.

The proposal also calls for the negotiated statute to be submitted to the populations concerned in a referendum, a step distinct from the national constitutional referendum normally required under Article 174 of Morocco’s 2011 Constitution.

Article 174 also allows the King, after consulting the president of the Constitutional Court, to submit revisions of certain constitutional provisions directly to Parliament sitting in joint session, where approval requires a two-thirds majority.

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