Canary Islands asks Spain to "return to legality" and support Sahara self-determination

The plenary of the Parliament of the Canary Islands has asked this Thursday the Spanish Executive to return "to the framework of international legality" in the Sahara, to respect the resolutions of the UN and to demand "the holding of the self-determination referendum".

This pronouncement was supported by all groups except the PSOE and the Gomera Socialist Group, which abstained, and joins six other resolutions approved as a conclusion to the debate on the state of Canarian nationality, presented as a result of Spain's support for the autonomy of the Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty.

The initiative promoted by Nueva Canarias, PSOE's partner in the regional Executive, demands that Spain recover "immediately" its historical position and emphasizes respect for international legality, UN resolutions, the right to self-determination and the human rights of the Saharawis.

The third partner of the socialists in the Executive, Sí Podemos Canarias, also supported the resolution, with the exception of the Minister of Social Rights, Noemí Santana, who abstained by mistake, as she later clarified to the Chamber's Board to expressly request that her vote be amended and a yes will be recorded in the minutes.

A similar proposal from Coalición Canaria was also approved, this one supported by the PSOE but in which the PP abstained, to demand that the Government of Spain comply with its international commitments and in favor of the self-determination referendum as "the just, lasting and acceptable political solution to the conflict in Western Sahara".

Sí Podemos Canarias and PSOE separately presented the same initiative, approved unanimously, in which neither self-determination nor the referendum is expressly mentioned, but "compliance with international commitments" and "a just, lasting and acceptable political solution" that respects "all the resolutions" of the UN.

In the initiative of the Gomera Socialist Group, also approved by all, the Government of Spain is asked to "make the necessary diplomatic efforts so that the people of Western Sahara can exercise their right to a referendum and decide on their self-determination", as well as to keep the Canarian institutions informed about the agreements with Morocco in this regard.

From the Mixed group, two proposals on the Sahara were approved, one that asked to give voice to the Saharawi citizens as established by international law for the former colonies, promoted by Ciudadanos, and another in defense of a democratic consultation in strict compliance with international law, by the deputy Vidina Espino.

The seventh initiative approved was presented by the PP, in which Pedro Sánchez is asked to explain his change of policy on the Sahara in the Congress of Deputies.

During the debate, the deputy of Coalición Canaria Rosa Dávila reproached Nueva Canarias for being satisfied with the approval of a parliamentary resolution on this issue of the Sahara and not even asking for the convocation of a meeting of the Canary Islands government pact, surely because "it is the price of the armchair" of Román Rodríguez, leader of NC, as vice-president of the executive.

Pedro Sánchez "has sold the Saharawi people and has betrayed the Canarian people" by supporting the Moroccan position, said Dávila, and affirmed that it is not "a solution for an occupied and tortured people" to put "the oppressed and the oppressor on the same level".

The representative of the PSOE, Nira Fierro, affirmed in this regard that her party and the Government of Spain have always defended and continue to do so "an agreement between the parties within the mandate of the United Nations".