In a major political shift, the Polisario Front has announced its readiness to accept Morocco’s 2007 autonomy plan for Western Sahara, provided it is approved through a referendum. The move marks a significant turnaround and underscores the growing international support for Morocco’s proposal.

On Thursday, October 23, the Polisario’s representative to the United Nations, Mohamed Yeslem Beissat, stated that the movement is “ready to accept the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco if the Sahrawi population validates it by referendum.”

This announcement, conveyed to the UN Security Council ahead of a new resolution vote scheduled for October 31, represents a historic change in the Polisario’s position. For nearly five decades, and with the backing of Algeria, the movement had rejected any form of autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty, insisting solely on full independence.

Beissat explained that the Polisario’s new proposal “includes the three options recognized by international law: independence, integration, and free association,” noting that the latter could be “potentially compatible with Morocco’s autonomy plan.” This acknowledgment of the Rabat initiative’s validity is a first since the movement’s creation in the 1970s.

Morocco’s 2007 autonomy plan, widely endorsed by the international community as a serious and credible framework for negotiation, envisions broad administrative, economic, and cultural self-governance under Moroccan sovereignty. Several Western capitals, including Washington, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, and London, have described it as a realistic and pragmatic path to resolving the decades-long dispute.

However, many diplomats in New York note that the referendum condition remains unlikely, given the failure of previous UN efforts to establish a consensual voter list. They see the Polisario’s referendum demand as more symbolic than practical.

This evolution in the movement’s stance comes amid a shifting diplomatic landscape. Since the United States’ recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara in 2020 under the Donald Trump administration, support for Rabat’s proposal has grown steadily. Meanwhile, Russia has adopted a “constructive” tone, and China continues to back the traditional UN-led negotiation framework.