The Senegalese President and current Chairman of the African Union (AU), Macky Sall, regretted that the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which opened on Saturday in Tunis, was marked by the absence of Morocco, a “prominent member of the African Union”.
“Senegal regrets that this meeting of the TICAD is marked by the absence of Morocco, an eminent member of the African Union, for lack of consensus on a question of representation”, said MrSall at the opening of the conference.
He expressed the hope of seeing this problem “find a lasting solution in the future for the smooth running of our organization and our partnership in a serene and peaceful setting”.
This position was supported by a large number of African countries, including the President of Guinea Bissau and current President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Mr Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who left the 8th TICAD conference to protest against the participation of the “Polisario” imposed by Tunisia, according to diplomatic source.
The Comoros Islands also regretted the absence of Morocco, “a pillar of Africa”, from the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 8).
“I would like to express our regret for the absence of Morocco, a pillar of Africa, for reasons of compliance with the rules established so far for the organisation of this TICAD summit”, said the President of the Comoros Islands, Azali Assoumani, at the opening of the conference.
He expressed the wish that “this will not affect the expectations of our peoples in this strategic partnership between Africa and Japan”.
For its part, Liberia regretted, on Saturday, Morocco’s absence from the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development, and called for “the suspension of this session until the problems relating to the procedures are resolved” after the unilateral invitation of the separatist entity of “Polisario” to this event. “Liberia expresses its regret over Morocco’s absence from TICAD-8.
“We are surprised by the imposed presence of a delegation (NDRL polisario) in violation of TICAD procedures,” said the Liberian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, at the opening of this conference. –africanews.com
