Morocco's Socialist Union of Popular Forces will open its doors to Polisario members

As the Western Sahara dispute enters a pivotal phase, amid intensive secret diplomatic activity under direct US sponsorship to finalise a draft "framework agreement" aimed at ending a 50-year conflict, a new development has emerged within the Moroccan political arena: The opposition Socialist Union of Popular Forces has announced its readiness to "open its doors to returnees" of the Polisario Front to Morocco "within the framework of comprehensive national reconciliation".

The move carries several implications.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, 25 February, the party political bureau said it welcomed "the position expressed by the first secretary regarding the party's readiness to receive those returning to the homeland, within the framework of comprehensive national reconciliation and opening the doors to collective work, in a strong and just democratic Morocco for all its sons, within the framework of autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty and the national constants that have historically guided the Union in its national and political positions and practical initiatives".

The bureau added that "national sense and sincere commitment require full and responsible readiness for the expected effects of the solution agenda in our Saharan provinces on national life in general and on internal political and institutional conditions and related entitlements", stressing that priority in this regard is for the homeland above all.

Mustafa Antara, a visiting professor at the Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences Ain Chock at Hassan II University of Casablanca, views the announcement as politically and organisationally significant.

He argues that the step goes beyond its apparent reconciliatory dimension and is closely tied to broader shifts in the Sahara file and to evolving balances within Morocco's party landscape.

Antara told Al Araby al Jadeed, the Arabic-language sister publication of The New Arab, that attracting returnees is not new in Moroccan political life. Several parties have previously incorporated returning figures into senior positions within their structures, enabling some to secure prominent institutional roles. He pointed to Jamoula Bint Abi's experience within the Party of Progress and Socialism, where she emerged as a well-known parliamentary figure.

Yanja El-Khattat, current president of the Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab region, represents another example of a returnee integrated into regional governance institutions. Bashir Dakhil also held political responsibilities within the Constitutional Union.

For Antara, these precedents demonstrate that the engagement of returnees in party politics is not a novelty but part of an ongoing integration dynamic.

However, he contended that the Socialist Union initiative carries particular weight, especially given renewed diplomatic momentum such as the recent UN decision and continued US sponsorship of negotiations between the parties to the conflict.

In his view, the announcement can be read as conveying a dual message. Domestically, it signals the party's openness to diverse national actors. Internationally, it underscores that political integration within Moroccan party pluralism remains a viable path for returnees.

Antara also suggested that the move may reflect an implicit response to longstanding criticism of political parties, particularly those with leftist roots, for failing to effectively absorb a significant segment of returnees, despite many of them sharing a socialist ideological background.

He believed the initiative may therefore represent an attempt to rebuild links and reclaim a symbolic space that might have naturally accommodated some of these actors.

He further argued that the step cannot be separated from debates initiated by certain returnees in the southern provinces over governance, development models and the institutional future of the disputed area. 

Recent voices have advanced new proposals on territorial governance and the role of local elites in public administration, positioning themselves as legitimate stakeholders in any future regional reconfiguration.

Antara considered it plausible that this emerging intellectual and political dynamism encouraged the party to reinforce its ranks with cadres aligned with its social and democratic orientation.

Antra also argued that an organisational dimension is central to this development. The Socialist Union has faced internal challenges for years, particularly in rebuilding its grassroots base and renewing its leadership following its latest congress.

Against this backdrop, Antra opined that outreach to returnees may broaden the party base, inject new figures into its ranks, and mitigate its political constraints in an increasingly competitive partisan environment.

"In this analysis," he continued, "the implications extend beyond humanitarian or integrative symbolism. They intersect with strategic calculations regarding the Sahara issue, efforts to recalibrate party balances, and attempts to revitalise the party political project."

"The step raises more questions than it answers, indicating that the returnees' file retains symbolic and political weight in Morocco's national debate," Antara concluded. 

Rachid Lazrak, head of the North Africa Centre for Studies and Research and Evaluation of Public Policies in Morocco, offers a similar but distinct interpretation. He argues that the announcement signals a political repositioning that transcends narrow partisan considerations and reflects engagement with the broader national framework governing the Sahara issue.

Lazrak told Al Araby al Jadeed that, given its historical association with constitutional legitimacy and national integration, the party appears keen to align itself with a state approach centred on reconciliation and reintegration rather than leaving the matter solely to security or administrative management.

He viewed the initiative as an effort to expand national consensus around the autonomy proposal by using a party-civil mechanism that frames the return as a political and intellectual transformation rather than merely an individual administrative settlement.

Lazrak also noted a competitive dimension within the party sphere. The move, he suggested, reopens the question of which actors can credibly claim to lead the articulation of national discourse on the Western Sahara. Through this initiative, the Socialist Union seeks to reclaim symbolic standing within the broader consensus and to present itself as a platform capable of integrating returnees as institutional political actors.

Externally, he argued, the message is equally significant. It implies that the conflict is not addressed solely through diplomatic confrontation but also through structured political integration, thereby diminishing the appeal of separatism when institutional channels for participation are available.

Sahrawi activist and former Polisario official Mustafa Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud offered a more sceptical perspective. He told Al Araby al Jadeed that he does not believe "political party doors were ever formally closed to Sahrawis, whether returnees or residents. Rather, there has long been a weak political organisation and a wide gap between individuals and political practice for a variety of reasons."

Regarding the Socialist Union specifically, he describes it as "intellectually and politically closest to returnees from the Polisario, given the movement's revolutionary leftist background, particularly among its founding generation."

"Had Moroccan parties invested more seriously in political organisation and democratic engagement, [then] some of the structural impediments of the conflict might have evolved differently," he argued.

"For example, while international momentum toward resolving the Sahara dispute appears to be accelerating, parties and citizens alike remain uncertain about the direction of developments," Mouloud added.

He concluded that "late engagement is preferable to inaction", further emphasising that "sustained and intensive political activity is necessary to reconnect citizens with political processes and enable them to participate meaningfully in managing public affairs."

Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari.