Colombian Senators categorically rejected President Gustavo Petro’s decision on Tuesday, October 25. The latter, immediately invested last August, had taken the decision to restore broken relations with the separatists of the polisario, which “contradicts the basic principles of Colombian diplomacy”.
In absolute disagreement with the president, the Senate expressed through a petition signed by 62 senators out of the 108 representatives of various parties in the country, its unequivocal rejection of the presidential decision. The senators who signed the document represent nine Colombian political parties, including the coalition formations that make up Petro’s government: the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party, the O (Party of National Social Unity) and the Party of the green alliance.
Among the Senators opposed to Gustavo Petro’s decision are members of opposition parties such as the Democratic Center Party, the Anti-Corruption Conservative League (Petro’s rival party in the second round of Rodolfo Hernandez’s last election) , as well as representatives of independent parties such as Radical Change and MIRA and the Colombia Justa Libres party. The petition was read yesterday, Tuesday, October 25 in plenary session, by the Secretary General of the Senate, Gregorio Eljach Pacheco – himself a signatory of the petition – and broadcast live by the Senate television channel, as well as on the networks congressional social.
The document signed by a large majority of Colombian Senators stated:We, the undersigned, members of the Senate, express our categorical rejection and absolute disagreement with the position taken by the Ministry of External Relations on August 10, 2022, which confirmed the validity of the joint declaration signed on February 2, 1985with the Phantom Republic of the Polisario. The signatories of this petition, filed by Senator Germann Alcides Blanco Alvarez, member of the Conservative Party (in power) and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, strongly denounce the decision to “reestablish diplomatic relations with this separatist movement which proclaims itself country, but is in fact not recognized by the vast majority of countries in the world, nor by the United Nations”.
The Senators warned that “the decision taken by the Colombian Foreign Ministry last August contradicts one of the fundamental principles of Colombian diplomacy, namely non-interference in the internal affairs of countries, which has had disastrous consequences and destroyed the excellent relations which have always united us for 43 years with Morocco and which we sincerely hope to resume“. They consider that “looking for a resolution dating back more than 37 years, it is clear that this decision was taken without assessing the current situation, and without considering its consequences, which have seriously affected the excellent ties of friendship that have historically been maintained with Morocco“.
The Senators’ petition, which was delivered to Morocco’s Ambassador to Colombia, Mrs. Farida Loudaya, will be transmitted by the Senate to the Presidency of the Republic and to the Ministry of External Relations. The document emphasized that the Kingdom is “a great friend and ally who represents Colombia as a strategic and distinguished partner in Africa and the Arab world, given the leadership and recognition it enjoys at the regional, continental and global level”.
Petitioners and no less Senators have concluded that “in this respect, with full respect for the territorial integrity of the Member States of the United Nations, especially since this question is of fundamental importance for Morocco, since it concerns its territorial integrity and its sovereignty, we, the Senators of the Republic, the undersigned, urge the government of President Gustavo Petro and his Ministry of Foreign Affairs to directly review the decision taken and to support the efforts of the Secretary General of the United Nations and the Security Council in order to reach a political agreement. , practical, realistic and lasting solution to this regional conflict, in accordance with international legitimacy, and to promote peace and stability in this region of the world“.