Marrakech – King Mohammed VI has decreed October 31 of each year as a new national holiday to be known as “Aid Al Wahda” (Unity Day), according to a communiqué from the Royal Cabinet. The announcement follows the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2797/2025, which explicitly recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara.
The Royal Cabinet stated that this new national holiday will serve as “a unifying occasion for expressing attachment to the kingdom’s national sacrosanct values and its legitimate rights.” Additionally, the day will be an occasion when the monarch grants royal pardons.
In a speech delivered minutes after the Security Council vote, King Mohammed VI addressed the nation, calling the moment “a pivotal stage and a decisive turning point in the history of modern Morocco.”
He stated firmly: “From now on, there will be a before and an after October 31, 2025. The time has come for a united Morocco extending from Tangier to Lagouira, whose rights nobody would dare violate, nor transgress its historical borders.”
The resolution sets the Autonomy Initiative as compass
The historic Resolution 2797, adopted by a comfortable majority of the Security Council, finally puts an end to decades of ambiguity by recognizing “autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty” as the only framework for negotiations.
This resolution decisively buries the referendum option championed by Algeria and its puppet Polisario Front, which has manipulated the Western Sahara issue for half a century.
The UN resolution’s acknowledgment of Moroccan sovereignty is not procedural – it dismantles Algeria’s insatiable, masked desire for hegemony and Atlantic access, long disguised under the false pretense of defending self-determination.
While Algeria’s foreign minister pathetically attempts to downplay this defeat by claiming the mention in the preamble has “limited impact,” diplomatic experts know better. The preamble sets the normative foundation that governs the entire resolution, making Moroccan sovereignty the unquestionable starting point for any future discussions.
The resolution drastically restructures the UN approach to the issue, reducing its length by two-thirds and focusing exclusively on Morocco’s Autonomy Initiative as the sole realistic path forward. This formally sidelines the desperate last-minute proposal submitted by the Polisario Front on October 20 through South Africa’s UN mission.
Previous UN resolutions on this issue were notoriously lengthy and filled with diplomatic language that maintained ambiguity. The typical resolution would have around 26 paragraphs in the preamble and 17 paragraphs in the operative section.
With Resolution 2797, the Americans shortened the text to just 8 paragraphs in the preamble and 6 in the operative section.
‘All Moroccans are equal’
King Mohammed VI extended a direct call to Tindouf camp residents: “I sincerely call upon our brothers in Tindouf camps to seize this historic opportunity to return to their families and take advantage of the Autonomy Initiative to contribute to managing local affairs.”
He guaranteed full equality for returnees, stating: “As King, guarantor of citizens’ rights and freedoms, I solemnly affirm all Moroccans are equal, with no difference between those returning from Tindouf camps and their brothers residing in the national territory.”
The King also reached out to Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune for “sincere fraternal dialogue” to build new relations based on trust and good neighborliness with the aim of revitalizing the Maghreb Union. This contrasts sharply with Algeria’s obstructionist policies and hostile stance toward its neighbor.
According to the current Royal Cabinet communiqué, future royal speeches will be delivered on two official occasions: Throne Day and the opening of Parliament. The King reserves the right to address the nation at any moment deemed appropriate.
Celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the Green March will proceed as scheduled, without a royal speech on that occasion.
This watershed moment follows decades of meticulous Moroccan diplomacy that has progressively garnered international support for its legitimate rights. The two-thirds of UN member states now backing Morocco’s Autonomy Plan reveals Algeria’s growing isolation and the collapse of its separatist narrative built on obsolete Cold War logic.
Read also: Morocco FM Attributes Momentum Behind Resolution 2797 to King Mohammed VI’s Far-Sighted Approach
