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.

History

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.

Government structure

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.

Legislative branch

Area of operation

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.

Constitution and characteristics

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.

International recognition and memberships

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 ^*,^* 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.

Towards a Western Sahara Authority?

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.

National holidays

Date	Holiday	Remarks
February 27	Independence Day	Proclamation of the republic in Bir Lehlou, 1976
May 10	Foundation of Polisario Front	Founded in 1973
May 20	20th May Revolution	Start of armed struggle (against Spain) in 1973
June 5	Day of the Disappeared	Remembering missing Sahrawis
June 9	Day of the Martyrs	On death date of El-Ouali, 1976
June 17	Zemla Intifada	Harakat Tahrir riots in El-Aaiun, 1970
October 12	Day of National Unity	Celebrating Ain Ben Tili Conference, 1975
Dates following the lunar Islamic calendar
Dhul Hijja 10	Eid al-Adha	Sacrifice feast
Shawwal 1	Eid al-Fitr	End of Ramadan
Rabi`-ul-Awwal 12	Mawlid	Muhammad's birthday

Note: The above list of national holidays is not necessarily complete.

External links

Official 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

Governments in exile | Western Sahara | African Union member states | 1976 establishments | Unrecognized or largely-unrecognized states

الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية | República Árabe Saharaui Democrática | República Árabe Saharauí Democrática | Sahariska Arabiska Demokratiska Republiken

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