Opposition party Coalition for Melilla wants Morocco and Spain to sign a new Treaty of friendship, good-neighborliness and cooperation. Commercial borders separating Morocco from Melilla have been closed for more than two months now. The decision, taken by Morocco on August the 1st, has pushed the People's Party, the ruling formation in the Spanish enclave, to criticize Rabat and the central government in Madrid. But the offensive conducted by PP in Melilla has left room for the opposition to voice its thoughts in the city. On Wednesday, October the 10th, Coalition for Melilla (CpM), a political party in the North African city that was formed shortly before the 1995 municipal regional elections, has submitted a solution to the current crisis between Rabat and the enclave. Mustapha Abderchan, leader of CpM, suggested in a press briefing that a new Treaty of friendship, good-neighborliness and cooperation must be concluded between Morocco and Spain. The agreement Abderchan is talking about is similar to the one signed between the two countries on 4th of July 1991 and published on the Official Bulleting on June the 12th, 2012. The new treaty should highlight «the common denominators» to ensure co-existance between the two countries, stressed the politician. Walking to Madrid to call for the signing of the treaty Abderchan has also urged other political parties in the Melilla local government to support the initiative, reports a Melilla online newspaper. The politician recognized that the situation is the city is «worrying», especially after the closure of commercial borders. Indeed, two months after Rabat's decision Melilla lost around 200 million euros, announced the city's president Juan Jose Imbroda in September. The initiative conducted by Abderchan refers to the protests that took place in front of the House of Representatives in Madrid in 1991. In fact, Melilla and Ceuta's inhabitants marched in November of the same year to the Spanish capital to defend the autonomous status of their cities. For the record, Morocco has tried several times to exclude the presidents of Melilla and Ceuta from high-level meetings held with Spain.
