The Western Saharan Members of the Moroccan Parliament and their perceptions of Makhzen

Abstract

This article presents a profile of parliamentarians from Western Sahara constituencies (2011-2016). It also analyses their perceptions and discourses on the Makhzen. The development of the paper allows us to validate in the conclusions our initial hypotheses: first, the vision of the Makhzen of these Members of Parliament is permeated by a limited regional identity and conditioned by the authoritarian margins of the regime; second, although these peripheral elites accept to participate in state processes and institutions, their perceptions of the Makhzen are not univocal and derive from their multi-situated relationship with the system's red lines.