In response to Algeria’s announcement that Amina Selmane had been chosen to represent the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) at the African Union (AU) and that Moussa Faki Mahamat had received her upon receiving her credentials, the AMU General Secretariat released a statement.

In an erroneous statement that violated diplomatic protocol, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized the appointment of Amina Selmane and the acceptance of her credentials by the African Union Chairman.

The AMU General Secretariat stressed that Selmane’s appointment “coincides with the extension of the mandate of the Secretary General, Taeb Baccouche, who has repeatedly requested the appointment of a successor, most recently on the occasion of the Arab Summit in Algeria, during which the parties concerned failed to invite him to respond to his request, despite his receipt of an official invitation from the Secretary General of the League of Arab States.”

The secretariat also expressed regret over “the contradictions of the Algerian parties, who have referred to the Secretary General as (former Secretary General), while senior Algerian state officials have continued to correspond with the Secretary General on his behalf and in his capacity, from August 2022 to today, with at least nine correspondences, the last of which was sent by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister, and the President of the Algerian Republic.

According to the statement, Algeria has not raised any objections to the Secretary General of the AMU on any of his actions within the legal timetable, including the decision to open the AMU’s office to the AU as of March 7, 2023, which no nation has contested.

However, after obtaining Amina Selmane’s letters of accreditation, the AMU General Secretariat lamented Algeria’s unwarranted criticism of the AU Chairperson.

The statement from the General Secretariat noted that Mr. Faki Mahamat had applied Article 20 of the Agreement between the African Union and its eight Regional Economic Communities (RECs), which deals with each REC appointing a representative to the AU. “We also regret the unjustified attacks against the Chairman of the African Union, Moussa Faki Mahamat, with unworthy qualifiers,” it said.

On April 13, he formally received Ms. Selmane’s letters of accreditation, “who was sworn in by the Secretary-General of AMU in her capacity as Director of Economic Affairs within the AMU.”

The General Secretariat of AMU stated, “She has become a Maghrebian diplomat working with the Secretary General and the President of the AU, whom we support and for whom we have respect and consideration.”

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After Moroccan diplomat Amina Selmane presented her credentials as the permanent representative of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) to the AU, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched a stinging attack on Mahamat Faki, the chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, on Sunday.

Algeria expressed its “deep amazement” at Faki’s “casual” and “reckless” choice to accept credentials from a Moroccan diplomat who was impersonating the “Permanent Representative” of the AMU to the AU, according to Algeria.

However, a news release from the AMU’s general secretariat stated that the Moroccan diplomat had in fact been chosen by the union for this position.

Algeria accused Faki of agreeing to a “gross protocolary staging” that gave way to an operation of “unhealthy manipulation, designed and implemented for purposes that in no way serve the interests of the UMA and the UA”, further bringing him into disrepute.

Selmane’s appointment, according to Algeria, was made outside the parameters specified by the Treaty establishing the UMA of February 1989. Algeria further asserted that it was never contacted about the decision.

The Treaty calls for a unanimous vote of the member states at the level of the AMU’s Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, which is the sole body qualified to make decisions regarding both this appointment and the fostering of cooperative relationships with other nations.

The response from Algeria was perceived as a last-ditch attempt to thwart Selmane’s appointment since Taeb Baccouche, the AMU SG, was the target of Algeria’s political campaign with the president of the AMU Commission and other Union member states to disparage him in the course of his official duties. Algeria’s strategy, however, met with no political backing, thus it turned to direct confrontation with Faki.

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Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccans Abroad, affirmed Tuesday in Rabat the importance of the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council reform, noting that the Kingdom will continue to support the Council’s reform for greater transparency and professionalism.

“The reform of the Commission on Political Affairs, Peace and Security cannot succeed without the overhaul of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the AU,” said Bourita in a press statement following his meeting with AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Bankole Adeoye, who is on a working visit to the Kingdom, emphasizing that Morocco also supports all proposals adopted for the Commission’s reform.

He emphasized the necessity of the fundamental pillars for the reform’s execution, particularly in terms of good governance, preventive diplomacy, peace, and stability. “These pillars are critical components for Africa to have a clear and holistic picture of security and stability operations,” he added.

The minister went on to say that these reforms are an essential component of the AU’s mission, emphasizing that meaningful work is being done to meet the targets stated.

Bourita reaffirmed Morocco’s full readiness to contribute actively in terms of election observation and organization, peacekeeping, preventive diplomacy, and crisis management, stating that Africa possesses all of the assets and resources required to work positively to ensure the continent’s security and stability.

Recalling the Kingdom’s vast experience in these sectors, the Minister also reaffirmed Morocco’s commitment to sharing its expertise with African countries.

Highlighting the strength of Moroccan diplomacy in Africa, which works in accordance with the Royal High Directions, Bourita stated that Morocco, a significant participant in conflict resolution, feels that the African continent’s peace and stability are critical.

Welcoming Adeoye’s election to chair this crucial Commission within the AU due to his experience in peace and security, the Minister stated that the AU can rely on the Kingdom’s unwavering commitment to achieving the pan-African organization’s aims.

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The popular movement Algeria celebrated some days ago after an emergency stop due to the health precautions of the covid19 pandemic, and despite the arrests and trials among the movement’s activists and pioneers, continues on different social media; the protests continue due to the government’s inability to solve social and economic problems on the one hand. On the other hand, the government failed to provide convincing answers to Algerians queuing for bread, milk, meat, and other daily needs of the citizens in a country rich in oil and gas, and has got the potential to be competing with the gulf states in terms of infrastructure, health, education and others.

The first answer to this movement was to change the Algerian constitution, and bring the Algerian people into sterile discussions which do not provide answers to solve the milk crisis for instance. In addition, a group of writers and media professionals affiliated with the generals of Mouradia Palace contributed to floating the discussions by discussing other priorities such us constitutionalizing carrying out missions by the Algerian army outside the borders. the latter overshadowed the study of more important topics such as power-sharing, the democratic process, civil, social, and environmental rights, the Algerian wealth and others, what could have made the Algerian constitution more advanced and protective of the rights and liberties of the Algerian brothers.

Article 31 of the new constitution in Algeria authorizes the army to carry out missions outside the borders. One might ask whether this means humanitarian missions in Africa or the UN missions, or is it a direct threat to all the neighbors? Making the matter even worse, the president was given responsibility for the national defense in Article 91, which was interpreted as retaining the position of Minister of Defense.

With the return of the protests on Algiers streets and other major Algerian cities in front of the serious financial crisis, in addition to the absence of the president of the republic for health purposes which made him in an unconstitutional situation as the period exceeded 45 days according to Article 102 of the constitution, the generals of Al Mouradia Palace undertook the mission of silencing everyone who dared referring to this unconstitutional status.

The second answer will be given; what remains of the Algerian president appeared to announce, on February 18th, in a speech to the Algerian people dissolving the parliament and organizing premature elections, in addition to releasing some of the movement detainees. This means that the political elite in the country failed to manage the issues of this era; the same elite, parliament especially, however was the one which approved the provisions of the new constitutional amendment, and turned out the vote in November 2020’s constitutional referendum, while the Algerian president was on a medical trip in Germany.

By dissolving the parliament, the generals of Al Mouradia palace have presented the parliament members as scapegoats for the movement, and opened the way to rearranging the next era, with a constitution that preserves not only the “control button” for them but also their continuous domination over the political decision-making, economy, wealth … and squandering all this in files which do not mean anything to the Algerian people who live the conditions of poor countries as if having no huge wealth, no billions of reserves in hard currency, nor a position on the Mediterranean to make the country strong in terms of infrastructure, social equipment, and to reduce the unemployment rate, and raise the growth rate and per capita income of every Algerian citizen.

We in Morocco do not hesitate to freely and plainly say that Morocco witnessed, in February 2011, important popular protests, and that the famous March 9th speech was an announcement of the return of protesters to their homes and businesses. It was an announcement to engage in a series of workshops preparing for a new constitution with a participatory approach to answer all the demands of that stage and foresee upcoming stages. The discussions included all the raised issues: the sharing of power, expending the PM’s responsibilities, establishing the principles of democracy, good governance, regionalism, human rights and many other points. The workshops are still here, developing, changing and progressing as they are still open and present in all the Royal speeches and letters.

What was stated by Ahmed Ounais, the former Tunisian foreign affairs minister, in his interview with Awassir TV channel on February 19th of this year, that the Mouradia Palace generals are buying the voices of politicians and some African countries to recognize the Polisario separatists within the African organization, and are allotting unimaginable funds in exchange of supporting the Polisario thesis within committees, subsidiary bodies and other African institutions, is a very dangerous political revelation that clearly illustrates the wasting of the Algerian people’s wealth to satisfy the sick personal vanity of a few generals who inherited the sick military doctrine of the strong desire to destroy neighboring countries on the one hand, and the desire to continue proxy wars dating back to the cold war era.

The same guest speaker also raised, in a tone of regret for what was lost, that Algeria kept for itself a desert belonging to Tunisia; the temporal and political contexts though prevented the Tunisians from opposing the Algerian army to annex Tunisian desert. The former Tunisian minister, in a tone of success, plainly congratulated Morocco for defending its borders and Moroccan Sahara.

The notes of Maghreb and African diplomats conceal many details of an Algerian stock exchange set by the Algerian military regime not to transfer technology, progress, medical and health equipment, but to pump billions to buy votes and voices in the market of political slavery in the African organizations, aiming at changing the historical and geographical facts and creating an entity that threatens all its neighbors. The same entity has become an ember in the hands of the Algerian military and may burn it at any time.

The political cost of embracing the Polisario, whether inside Africa or in the world, is extremely high and makes a big hole in the state budget. It also has a moral that made of Algeria completely isolated at the international level, apart from their continuous attempts to buy votes and loyalties here and there.
The last of these costs is of a juridical and security nature; the camps of Tindouf today are full of human rights violations, a big spread of slavery, arms and drug gangs, human trafficking and international terrorism threats.

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