Polisario leadership rift deepens as Brahim Ghali blocks extraordinary congress

Ya Biladi

21-07-2025

In the Tindouf camps, opposition to Brahim Ghali's leadership is gaining momentum, with a new petition signaling growing discontent. Reviewed by Yabiladi, the document warns that the «national cause is going through a critical and fragile phase», marked by «setbacks and failures, both internal and external», and a «troubling decline in how the national project is being managed». This stark assessment stands in sharp contrast to the triumphant rhetoric often echoed by the Polisario Front's media apparatus.
The petition first criticizes the «war» launched on November 13, 2020, against Morocco, acknowledging «a loss of control over liberated territories, reduced room for maneuver on the ground, and a lack of a clear strategy to regain the initiative».
This erosion of control, they add, has gone hand in hand with a «steady decline in international recognition of the Sahrawi Republic and growing acceptance of the reality imposed by the Moroccan occupation».
Brahim Ghali Moves to Delay Polisario Congress
The petition also highlights «the near-total breakdown of security in the camps and in areas previously under control», along with «a rise in arms trafficking and weapons falling into the hands of drug dealers». The authors also warn of «external attempts to undermine the national cause», noting that the first major test of these threats will come in October, when the UN Security Council is set to review the Western Sahara issue.
«Despite repeated calls for the leadership and political elites to take these threats seriously, the national leadership, during its latest meeting on July 12–13 in the Tindouf camps, chose to ignore these dangers altogether», the petition states. «Even worse, it carried on as if everything were under control, showing just how disconnected it has become from reality and how far it's drifted from the national cause».
Turning their criticism directly toward Brahim Ghali's camp, the signatories stress that «the legitimacy of any leadership is not a blank check, it's a contract between the rulers and the people». They accuse the Polisario leadership of breaking that contract by failing in its core duties: defending the homeland, protecting civilians, and upholding their dignity.
The petition ends with a call to convene «an emergency national congress to correct the current course, restore balance, reinforce national unity, and rebuild public trust in the leadership». A similar appeal was made in July 2024 by Bachir Mustapha Sayed in a published article. Last May, other Polisario members had also called for an extraordinary congress to «save the movement from collapse».
At the latest meeting of the Polisario's General Secretariat, held last week, calls for holding a regular congress in January 2026 clashed with a veto from Brahim Ghali and his allies, who pushed to delay the gathering by a full year. «That delay is still technically legal under Polisario's internal rules», a former member of the movement told Yabiladi.
The outcome of the upcoming UN Security Council resolution on Western Sahara, expected at the end of October 2025, could prove decisive for Ghali's critics and their demands for change.