Saharan stasis: Status and future prospects of the Western Sahara conflict

March 25, 2024

The nine-year United Nations effort to hold a “winner-take-all” referendum in Western Sahara is stalemated by fundamental difference as to who should be allowed to vote. The United Nations is pessimistic that such a vote can ever be taken. and the Secretary-General`s Personal Envoy, former U.S Secretary of State James Baker has begum a series of meetings with Morocaan and Polisario Front representatives to see if a solution can be found. The Polisario insists that no solution other than a “winner-take-all” referendum is acceptable, while the Moroccan Government demands that everyone it considers to be a Saharawi must vote.