Sahrawi National Union Party
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Sahrawi National Union Party
حزب الاتحاد الوطني الصحراوي Hizb Al-Ittihad Al-Qawmi Aṣ-Ṣaḥrāwīyyah |
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| Spanish name | Partido de Unión Nacional Saharaui |
| Secretary-General |
Khelli Henna Ould Rachid (November 1974-14 May 1975) Dueh Sidna Naucha (14 May 1975-14 November 1975) |
| Founded | November 1974 |
| Dissolved | 14 November 1975 |
| Headquarters | El Aaiun, Spanish Sahara |
| Youth wing | PUNS Youth |
| Membership (1974) | 3,200 |
| Ideology |
Reformism Autonomism Sahrawi nationalism |
| Colors |
Blue, Yellow and Red |
| Party flag | |
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Partido de Unión Nacional Saharaui (PUNS, Sahrawi National Union Party) was a short-lived political party set up by Francoist Spain to rally indigenous support in its rebellious Spanish Sahara colony (presently Western Sahara).
The PUNS was created in late 1974 as the Partido Revolucionario Progresivo (Revolutionary Progressive Party), but soon changed its name. It was composed mainly of members of the Djema'a, a tribalist political body set up for similar purposes in the 1950s. Its flag is based on the Spanish flag for the Ifni-Sahara maritime province (1946-1975).
PUNS was during its time the only legal party within the territory of Francoist Spain, except the ruling Falange Española. PUNS was allowed to send delegates to the Cortes (Parliament) in Madrid. It had no decision making powers, and was more an instrument of the military governors in Western Sahara. Its leaders and creators, Khellihenna Ould Errachid and Dueh Sidna Naucha, worked in close collaboration with Spanish authorities.
The party's political program was supportive of Spain, and changed according to the rapid evolution of Spanish policy. In first months of its existence, its political activity mainly consisted of statements denouncing the Polisario Front, a nationalist guerrilla which had by then taken over most of the countryside. PUNS also advocated independence as a distant goal to be preceded by autonomy within Spain, and conditional on good relations with the government in Madrid.
As the prospect of Moroccan invasion began to seem ever likelier after the 1975 International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Western Sahara on Western Sahara, the colonial authorities allowed the PUNS to increase its demands for independence and campaign intensely against Moroccan ambitions, even threatening armed struggle against an invasion.
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Wikipedia