King Mohammed VI — Speech to the Nation on the 44th Anniversary of the Green March, 6 November 2019 (official English translation)

Dear Citizens, The Green March has always been the best illustration of the effective cohesion between the Throne and the people. It is testimony to the ability of Moroccans - the King and the people - to rise to the challenges facing the nation.

This is a never-ending march. Indeed, the spirit which enabled us to recover the Sahara in 1975 is the same one which urges us today to achieve development in all the regions of the Kingdom. This naturally includes our southern provinces, which constitute a link between Morocco and the rest of Africa [...].

Morocco has always been clear in its position concerning the Moroccanness of the Sahara as much as in its firm belief in the justness of its cause and the legitimacy of its rights. It will continue to work honestly and in good faith to achieve a political, realistic, practical and consensual solution based exclusively on the political approach adopted by the United Nations Organization and the relevant Security Council resolutions. The Autonomy Initiative provides for that solution [...]. It is the only way forward towards a settlement guaranteeing full respect for the Kingdom's national unity and territorial integrity.

[… …] For this reason, I invite the authorities concerned to give serious thought to the development of a rail link between Marrakech and Agadir [...]. We should also expand the road network, which I am seeking to further develop through the construction of the Agadir-Dakhla highway.

[…] This should be achieved within the framework of advanced regionalization and the equitable distribution of wealth between all regions. The country I would like to see should comprise harmonious, integrated regions that benefit, on an equal footing, from infrastructure and major projects […]. Each region should have a major economic hub developed around its potential and specificities.

Dear Citizens, Ours is a collective responsibility to safeguard our national unity and territorial integrity, and to promote comprehensive development throughout Morocco. [… …] We would thus reiterate our commitment to the Oath of the Green March, honor the memory of its architect, my revered father, His Majesty King Hassan II [...].