Regionalisation under occupation: Western Saharan parliamentary elites and the Moroccan regionalisation strategy (2011–16)

This article explores the role played by the Members of Parliament elected from the constituencies of Western Sahara in 2011 in the occupation strategies employed by the Moroccan state in this territory. The analysis begins at a time when territorial power was being redefined in Morocco, after the Moroccan proposal for an Advanced Autonomy Plan (2007) as a form of conflict resolution and the subsequent creation of institutions to address regionalisation (2010–11) and covers the entire parliamentary process. The paper examines three analytical dimensions – elections, political culture and parliamentary activity – in order to explain the development of identification processes.