Baker Plan

The Baker Plan (formally, Peace Plan for Self-Determination of the People of Western Sahara) is a United Nations initiative to grant self-determination to Western Sahara. It was intended to replace the Settlement Plan of 1991, which was further detailed in the Houston Agreement of 1997.

Background

Western Sahara's administration by Morocco since 1975 is challenged by Polisario guerillas living in exile in neighbouring Algeria. Since 1991, a cease-fire has been in place, accepted by both parties with the understanding that the UN would organize a referendum on independence. The 1991 referendum plan was stalled, however, due to disagreements on voter eligibility (with Morocco demanding the inclusion of all people now living in the territory and the Polisario front insisting on inclusion of only those found in the last Spanish census, from 1974, and their descendants), and, by the late 1990s, Morocco was openly declaring the referendum a "dead option".

Baker I & II

The first version of the plan, called Baker I or the Framework Agreement, was delivered by UN special envoy James Baker in 2000. It offered the people of Western Sahara autonomy within the Moroccan state. Except for defense and foreign policy, all other decisions would be the responsibility of local government. Morocco accepted the plan, but Algeria and the Polisario front rejected it. Algeria countered by proposing that the territory be divided between the parties [http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N02/255/42/IMG/N0225542.pdf?OpenElement] .

The second version (Baker II) envisioned Saharan self-rule in a Western Sahara Authority for a period of five years, with a referendum of the entire population of Western Sahara to follow. A provision that the government of the Western Sahara Authority be elected only by a restricted voters' list alienated Morocco. After Morocco had already rejected Baker II, Algeria and the Polisario front, despite initial hesitancy, accepted the plan. In July 2003, the UN Security Council endorsed the plan, something it had not done with Baker's first draft, and unanimously called for the parties to implement it.

The rejection of Baker I and Baker II by the parties prompted Baker to resign, the second UN envoy to Western Sahara to do so. He indicated that there appeared to be no feasible way to implement the peace agreement.

Western Sahara Authority

Under Baker II, the Western Sahara Authority (WSA) was to be the governing body for the territory of Western Sahara. As a part of the plan, the WSA would dismantle the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) as an aspirant sovereign entity over the region and replace it with an autonomous body under Moroccan sovereignty during a five-year transitional period.

After the five-year period, the Saharan population, including native Sahrawis, Tindouf refugees, Sahrawis from Southern Morocco, and other Moroccans, would hold a referendum on independence. If the vote was in favor of independence, the WSA would be dismantled and the SADR would take its place as an internationally recognized sovereign. If voters instead supported integration, either the WSA would continue its administration of the territory or the region would be fully integrated into the other Moroccan provinces.

tatus of the Baker Plan

Since early 2005, the UN Secretary General has not referred to the plan in his reports, and by now it seems largely dead. No replacement plan exists, however, and worries persist that the political vacuum will result in renewed fighting. Morocco has proposed autonomy for the territory as a final solution to the conflict.

External links

* [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/mediterranean_quarterly/v015/15.3mundy.pdf Jacob Mundy] "Seized of the Matter". The UN and the Western Sahara Dispute" (PDF)
* [http://www.merip.org/mero/mero080103.html MERIP: Toby Shelley] "Behind the Baker Plan for Western Sahara"
* [http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/sr166_united_nations_sahara.html The United Nations and Western Sahara: A Never-ending Affair] U.S. Institute of Peace Report, July 2006