The United Nations Security Council decided on Thursday to extend for one year the mandate of MINURSO, while enshrining, once again, the pre-eminence of the Moroccan autonomy initiative to close the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, according to MAP.
The Security Council “decides to extend the mandate of MINURSO until October 31st, 2023,” reads the text of resolution 2654, whose penholder is the United States. The resolution was adopted by 13 votes in favor and two abstentions from Kenya and Russia, who insisted on going through the referendum.
In this new resolution, the United Nations Security Council reaffirmed its support for the Moroccan autonomy initiative, presented by Morocco in 2007, as a serious and credible basis for ending the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, as enshrined in the Security Council resolutions.
The members of the Council also reiterated their support for the efforts of the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General aimed at relaunching the political process towards a realistic, pragmatic and lasting solution, based on compromise, says MAP.
The 2654 resolution is based on the UNSG report that supports “building on the progress and framework of the former Personal Envoy”, and strongly encourages Morocco, polisario, Algeria, and Mauritania to engage with the Personal Envoy. Indeed, in light of resolutions voted since 2018, the Kingdom favors reconvening the roundtable talks that de Mistura’s predecessor, Horst Köhler, had initiated in 2018 and 2019, involving Morocco, polisario, Algeria, and Mauritania.