Rabat: The Moroccan Initiative offers a flexible and forward-looking framework, Matsumoto emphasized, reiterating that it was presented in 2007 in full compliance with UN Security Council resolutions calling for ‘a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution’ to the Moroccan Sahara issue. The political scientist reaffirmed that the Autonomy Initiative is fully in line with international law and relevant Security Council resolutions.

According to Agence Marocaine De Presse, Matsumoto, who is also Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, pointed out that the UN process to reach a ‘just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution’ can only be led within the framework of the Moroccan Autonomy Initiative. It guarantees a balance between Morocco’s inalienable sovereignty over its Sahara and recognition of local specificities, he noted. The Autonomy Initiative is also an inclusive and pragmatic mechanism that ensures both national unity and regional self-governance, Matsumoto stressed.