Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
The
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) (also Saharawi;
Arabic: الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية,
Spanish:
República Árabe Saharaui Democrática (RASD)) is a largely unrecognised
state that does not currently control the majority of its claimed
territory, the former
Spanish colony of
Western Sahara. It was proclaimed on February 27, 1976 by the
Polisario Front. Currently,
Morocco administers the majority of the territory as its
Southern Provinces; the rest is controlled by the SADR as the
Free Zone.
|
The area in yellow on the map is that which the Polisario currently claims to administer on behalf of the SADR |
When the former
Spanish Sahara was evacuated by
Spain, both
Morocco and
Mauritania moved in to
annex it; neither gained international recognition and war with the
independence-seeking
Polisario Front, representing the
Sahrawi indigenous people, ensued. The creation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic was announced in
Bir Lehlou in Western Sahara on February 27 1976, as the Polisario declared the need for a new entity to fill what they considered a political void left by the departing Spanish
colonizers. Bir Lehlou is still in Polisario-held territory under the 1991
cease-fire (see
Settlement Plan) and has remained a temporary
capital of the
exiled republic, until the Sahrawi capital of
El-Aaiun, presently in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara, can function as the capital of an independent Western Sahara. Day-to-day business is however conducted in the
Tindouf refugee camps in
Algeria, which houses most of the Sahrawi exile community.
The highest office of the republic is the
President of Western Sahara, now
Mohammed Abdelaziz, who appoints the
Prime Minister of Western Sahara, now
Abdelkader Taleb Oumar. The SADR's government structure consists of a Council of Ministers (a cabinet led by the Prime Minister), a judicial branch (with judges appointed by the President) and the
parliamentary Sahrawi National Council (SNC, present
speaker is
Mahfoud Ali Beiba). Since its inception in 1976, the various
constitutional revisions has transformed the republic from an
ad hoc managerial structure, into what closely resembles an actual governing apparatus. From the late
1980s the parliament made a clear attempt at instituting a
division of powers and of disentangling the republic's structures from those of the Polisario.
Its various ministries are responsible for a variety of services and functions. The
judiciary, complete with trial courts,
appeals courts and a
supreme court, operates in the same areas. The SADR's status as a
government-in-exile prevents normal function of many branches of government, and has affected the constitutional roles of the institutions. It has also led to the creation of parallel institutions to structures within the
Polisario Front, which is fused with the SADR's governing apparatus, and government competences in some areas seem to overlap between these institutions and offices.
The
SNC is presently weak in its legislative role, having been instituted as a mainly consultative and
consensus-building institution, but it has notably strengthened its legislative and controlling powers during later constitutional revisions. Among other things, it has managed to add a ban on the
death penalty to the constitution, and bring down the government in 1999 through a
vote of no-confidence.
The SADR exercises state power in the Sahrawi
refugee camps located in the
Tindouf Province of western
Algeria, and in what it terms
the liberated areas (the Polisario-held, more or less unpopulated parts of Western Sahara east of the
Moroccan Wall). It is headquartered in Camp Rabouni, south of
Tindouf, although official events often for symbolic purposes take place on Western Saharan territory, in the provisional capital of
Bir Lehlou or
Tifariti. The Algerian authorities stay outside the Sahrawi refugee camps and respect the
autonomy of the republic. Several
foreign aid agencies, including the
UNHCR, are continually active in the camps.
The 1999
Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is basically a
parliamentary constitution such as that of any
European state, but with some paragraphs suspended until the achievement of "full
independence". For example, the
head of state is constitutionally the
general secretary of the Polisario during the pre-independence phase. But the constitution also states that this must change when an independent Western Sahara is a reality, as the Polisario will then be dismantled or separated completely from the government structure. Provisions are detailed for the transitory phase beginning with independence, in which the present SADR is supposed to act as Western Sahara's government, ending with pre-scheduled constitutional reform and the setting up of a normal state along the lines specified in the constitution.
Further, the constitution lays down broad guidelines for the character of the future Western Saharan state: it is to be founded as a multi-party
democracy with a
market economy. The constitution also defines Sahrawis as a
Muslim,
African and
Arab people, and the
Arabic language as the official language of the SADR; declares the commitment of the republic to the principles of
human rights, and to the concept of a
Greater Maghreb, as a regional variant of
Pan-Arabism.
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is currently recognized as a
sovereign representative of Western Sahara by
several dozen states, mostly
African and other
third world governments. This figure does not include 22 states that have withdrawn their former recognition, or the 12 that have "frozen" their diplomatic relations with the republic pending the outcome of the
UN referendum. Sahrawi
embassies exist in
13 states. (Moroccan sovereignty over the territory is explicitly recognized by the
Arab League[
1],[
2] and by
25 states.)
The republic is a full member of the
African Union (AU, formerly the
Organization of African Unity, OAU), since 1984 but it has no representation at the
United Nations. Due to the African Union's recognition of an independent Western Sahara, Morocco has left its seat, and it is the only African nation outside the AU since
South Africa was admitted in 1994.
The SADR is not a member of the
Arab League, nor of the
Arab Maghreb Union, both of which include Morocco as a full member.
In the last UN-endorsed
peace plan (created by
Secretary-General Kofi Annan's personal envoy to the Western Sahara,
James Baker III), the SADR would have been dismantled, at least temporarily, and replaced with the
Western Sahara Authority (WSA), a governing body that would not claim
sovereignty, but
autonomy under Moroccan rule during a five-year transitional period until a
referendum by
Saharans on independence. This plan however appears politically dead, since Morocco refuses to participate in it.
*
Note: The above list of national holidays is not necessarily complete.*
Elections in Western Sahara*
Politics of Western Sahara*
Polisario FrontOfficial SADR pages
*
Sahara Press Service (SPS) Official SADR press agency.
*
RASD TV Official TV channel (mostly in Spanish)
*
SADR National Radio Official radio channel (Arabic)
*
SADR Oil & Gas 2005 SADR oil and gas licensing offer.
Other
*
Western Sahara Online*
Association for a Free and Fair Referendum in Western Sahara (ARSO)*
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Page in Arabic
