The Peru-Morocco Parliamentary Friendship Group announced the creation of the support group during the friendship group’s second institutional meeting, held Tuesday at the headquarters of the Peruvian legislative institution.
The support group includes the President of the Peru-Morocco Parliamentary Friendship Group and member of the Peruvian Foreign Affairs Committee, Ernesto Bustamante Donayre, President of the Peruvian Foreign Affairs Committee, Maricarmen Alva Prieto, President of the Peruvian Intelligence Committee, Jose Cueto Aservi, as well as other presidents of commissions and Peruvian parliamentarians.
On this occasion, Bustamante praised the excellent legislative relations uniting Morocco and Peru, reiterating the Peruvian Congress’ position in support of the autonomy plan and the sovereignty of the Kingdom over the Moroccan Sahara. The Peruvian parliamentarian also urged his country’s government to reconsider its “wrong position relating to the restoration of relations with Polisario separatists.”
For her part, Alva Prieto stressed “the importance of reversing the unclear position of the Peruvian government on the territorial integrity of Morocco, which has a remarkable geopolitical and strategic importance and is a gateway to Africa and the Middle East.”
According to Cueto, the Peruvian government’s ambiguous position on Morocco’s territorial integrity should be clarified, further stressing the need to strengthen bilateral relations with Morocco, a key country in the African continent, the Arab world, and the Mediterranean region, and to benefit from its expertise in several fields, namely security governance, renewable energies, energy efficiency, water resources management, and logistics performance, as well as its expertise in the agricultural, industrial and aeronautical sectors.
Other Peruvian parliamentarians who attended this meeting highlighted the need to strengthen bilateral relations, based on mutual interests with Morocco, urging the Peruvian government to formally recognize the Moroccan autonomy plan as the only solution to the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara.
During this meeting, Morocco’s ambassador to Peru, Amine Chaoudri, highlighted Morocco’s autonomy plan, proposed in 2007, to end the political conflict over the Moroccan Sahara, stressing that this plan is the only political, realistic, pragmatic, and sustainable solution to this regional dispute.
Recalling that this plan is described by the United Nations (UN) as “serious and credible,” Chaoudri said that the population of the Moroccan Sahara and the international community fully support the Moroccan plan.
The Moroccan ambassador added, in this context, that since 2007, all reports and resolutions of the United Nations (UN) Security Council (SC), including the latest resolution 2654 adopted on October 27, 2022, reflect both Morocco’s commitment to the political process led by the United Nations (UN), and the United Nations (UN) support to the Moroccan Autonomy Plan for the Moroccan Sahara.
The creation of the “Group of Support for the Moroccan Autonomy Plan” in the Peruvian Congress therefore reaffirms the firm commitment of the Peruvian legislative institution to strengthening bilateral cooperation and consolidating relations between Morocco and Peru.