His statements left no room for doubt. President of the Moroccan Senate Naama Miyara He was confident in the “return of the two occupied cities of Ceuta and Melilla” through negotiations with Spain. A statement he is now trying to retract after several days of silence.

Miyara, fourth authority of the Moroccan state and member of the executive committee of the Moroccan nationalist party. Istiklalhoped to “reclaim both occupied cities through dialogue and positive negotiations with neighboring Spain, without resorting to the use of arms”. “We must be more open to civil society and Spanish political parties in order to bring positions closer on various issues related to the homeland” in an open call “to support the Moroccan community in Spanish society.”

The President of the Upper House of Saharan origin made these statements during a meeting of the women’s organization Istiklali, where he addressed the first anniversary of the “new stage” of Spanish-Moroccan relations after the historic change of position of the Pedro government. Sánchez in the Western Sahara dispute, supporting the Rabat autonomy plan.

The Spanish defense minister responded to the allegations on Monday. Daisy Robles. “Ceuta and Melilla are as Spanish as Zamora or Palencia, and there is nothing more to discuss on this subject,” he said. “I was recently in Ceuta and Melilla and I feel very Ceuta and very Melilla because I feel very Spanish. The position of the Spanish government is clear and convincing, and debate on this issue is impossible. They are part of Spain,” he added.

“I didn’t say anything about Ceuta and Melilla”

Miyara has been silent ever since. In statements to the Moroccan newspaper Goud, the chairman of the Senate and a member of one of the three parties that head the executive branch of the Alaouites, assures that “he did not say anything about Ceuta and Melilla.” “Naama Miyara denies that she said anything about Ceuta and Melilla at the party meeting,” the short note says.

During a meeting that sparked controversy over two Spanish cities that official Moroccan rhetoric considers “prisons”, Miyara insisted that “Spanish colonization continues in Ceuta and Melilla”. In his opinion, its formation “has not stopped and will not stop talking about the colonization of these two cities and possible solutions for their return” and that neither Ceuta nor Melilla “will be the object of barter.”

The Moroccan media, close to the security apparatus, criticized Miyaru for what they saw as an intrusion into the power reserved for Mohammed VI and speculated on his fall from grace. Sources familiar with the ins and outs of the Moroccan authorities believe that these statements are part of a situation marked by the long absence of the Alaouite monarch and the struggle for power that is being waged in machzencircle closest to the king.

Power fight

In the highest corridors of Rabat, there is a debate about how to proceed with Spain after the Copernican turn in the Sahara and in a political moment marked by negotiations between the two countries over the airspace of the former Spanish colony, which has so far been administered from the Canary Islands in accordance with international law. and the reality of a territory awaiting decolonization.

Flow machzen He seeks to take advantage of the good agreement with Madrid in order to continue to seek concessions from the Spanish government in the same vein as last year. Others, on the contrary, are of the opinion that it is necessary to time and not tighten the rope with the other side of the strait in a year rife with elected appointments and with a coalition partner who publicly disapproves of the rapprochement. from Morocco.