---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Wed, Mar 16, 2011 at 12:25 PM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Fwd: Position of southern opposition parties To: Group <[email protected]>
POSITION OF SOUTH SUDAN POLITICAL PARTIES ON THE TRANSITION MAR. 14/2011, SSN; 1. The beginning of the Transitional Period is to be the 9th of July 2011. 2. The new state shall be called “The Republic of South Sudan”, and all the South Sudan Political Parties shall agree on the flag, the national anthem and the coat of arms. 3. The length of the Transitional Period is to be from 18 to 21 months. After which general elections shall be held to elect the Constituent Assembly that will promulgate the Permanent Constitution. 4. It is essential to have lean and effective national and State governments. This saves money for the much needed basic services for our people, such as health, education and potable water. We are proposing a maximum of twenty (20) ministries for the national government. 5. The power sharing with the SPLM is to be 50:50. This percentage is to apply to the national, State and county levels. The power sharing percentage is to be a constitutional provision (transitional provisions). 6. The Transitional National Assembly and States’ legislative assemblies have to maintain the same number of members as the current Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly and States’ legislative assemblies, i.e., 170 and 48 members, respectively. This is in line with the lean and effective government we are advocating. The above percentage (point 5) applies to appointing members thereto. 7. There is no constitutional, legal or political justification to extend the assemblies and governments of the Government of Southern Sudan to the independent and sovereign Republic of South Sudan (See our paper: “why the mandate of the Government of Southern Sudan cannot be extended beyond July 9th 2011”). 8. There is an urgent need for a comprehensive plan to eliminate all forms of insecurity. It is necessary to have peace and stability before the declaration of the new state. Some areas to pay attention to are: serious peace talks with armed rebels, professionalization of the security organs, revision of the salary scale of soldiers, combating hunger, reinstatement of government officials dismissed after and because of the elections, and carrying out DDR in a professional manner. 9. The SPLM is to brief the parties on the Abyei problem: what are the prospects for solution? Could that be possible before the 9th of July 2011? If not, what is expected of the South to do? 10. We have already agreed in the All South Sudan Political Parties Conference that the current President of the Government of Southern Sudan shall become the President of the Republic of South Sudan for the Transitional Period. We reaffirm this commitment, and add that he may be elected for another term only. ________________________________________________ WHY THE MANDATE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SOUTHERN SUDAN (GOSS) CANNOT BE EXTENDED BEYOND JULY 9th 2011: On July 9, 2005, the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS), was established in accordance to the provisions of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and the Interim National Constitution of the Republic of Sudan 2005, (Article 53 (1)). The Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan, 2005 establishes an autonomous Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS), in the southern part of the Republic of Sudan . Section 65 of the Interim Constitution of Sudan, states that, prior to the elections that shall be held during the interim period:- (a) the incumbent President of the Republic, or his successor, shall be the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan Armed Forces, in accordance to this Constitution; (b) the Chairman of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, or his successor, shall be the First Vice President of the Republic of Sudan and shall at the same time be the President of the Government of Southern Sudan and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, in accordance to this constitution. However, the CPA and the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan also created a number of interim institutions to govern the interim period of 6 years in Southern Sudan, culminating in the Referendum on Self- determination of Southern Sudan 2011.These institutions include, among others, Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly (Section 57 (1) of the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan 2005). Why the Mandate of GOSS and its respective government institutions cannot be extended beyond July 2011: 1. Section 102 of the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan 2005, states that the tenure of the elected President of GOSS shall be five years, commencing from the date of assumption of office and that the same President may be re-elected for one more term only. This provision cannot apply in the event that Southern Sudan becomes an independent entity, because the institutions of GOSS, for which the President was elected, will cease to exist at the end of the interim period on July 8th 2011, so as to allow for sovereign institutions of the new nation to emerge. If there were an intention for this arrangement to continue beyond the interim period, the constitution of Southern Sudan would have provided for this, as is the case in Article 69 of the Interim National Constitution of Sudan. 2. Section 69 (1) of the Interim National Constitution of Sudan, states that, should the outcome of the referendum on Self-determination confirm unity, the President of the Republic and the First Vice President shall complete the tenure of their offices. This is true because all the institutions established during the interim period would remain in force in the whole Sudan . 3. Section 69(2) of the Interim Constitution of Sudan states that, in the event of a vote for secession by the people of Southern Sudan, the President of the Republic shall continue in office, if he/her is from the North; however, if the President is from the South, he/she shall be deemed to have resigned and the First Vice President shall assume the office of the President of the Republic, to complete the tenure to the next elections. 4. There is no provision in the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan 2005 stating that the First Vice President of the Republic of Sudan , who is also the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, shall continue in office during the transitional period, in an independent South Sudan . 5. Section 118 (2) of the Interim Constitution of Sudan states that, in the event of a vote for secession by the people of Southern Sudan, the seats of the members and representatives of Southern Sudan in the National Legislature shall be deemed to have fallen vacant and the National Legislature, being so reconstituted, shall complete its tenure to the next elections. This means that as soon as the result of the referendum of Southern Sudan confirms secession, all Southern Sudanese in the national parliament shall lose their seats. It is therefore, not possible for such members to be incorporated into Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly, because their original mandate does not include SSLA, as they were directly elected to the National Assembly in the north and not Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly in the South. Furthermore, SSLA ceases to exist at the end of the interim period on the 8th of July 2011, because it was not elected for an independent state of South Sudan and there are no provisions in the ICSS for its continuation into the independent state. 6. All the institutions of government established during the interim periods; January 2005 to July 2011, are autonomous within the Republic of Sudan. Therefore, the mandate of such institutions ends at the conclusion of the Interim Period on July 8th 2011 and the declaration of the newly independent state takes place thereof. This in itself is enough reason to justify why there must be review of the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan 2005, so as to provide for the sovereign constitutional needs of the new independent state. 7. Although the President of the Government of Southern Sudan was directly elected by the people of Southern Sudan in accordance to the provision of Section 97 (1) of the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan 2005, subject to the provision of Section 26 (1) of National Election Act 2008, his/her election is for the position of GOSS President and not the President of the newly independent South Sudan. These elections were organized on the strength of a Sudanese law (National Elections Act 2008), which cannot be applicable to independent South Sudan from the 9th of July 2011. Nevertheless, during the All Southern Sudan Political Parties Conference, held in Juba, from 13th – 17thOctober 2010, the political parties of South Sudan unanimously agreed that, in the event the people of South Sudan vote for secession (Section 3 (b) (iii) of the Final Communiqué), the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, Mr. Salva Kiir Mayardit, will lead the transitional government in the newly independent state. The political parties remain committed to this agreement. This resolution is in the spirit of consensual politics that is the hallmark of all transitions. 8. As for the elections to the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly and to the States Legislative Assemblies, these two levels of legislature were elected in respect of the interim institutions and for the autonomous government of Southern Sudan (GOSS). Therefore, such institutions do not have any mandate from the people of Southern Sudan for the newly independent nation, come July 9th 2011. 9. Managing the expectations of the people of Southern Sudan remains an important and very crucial aspect of the post referendum era. The people of Southern Sudan voted overwhelmingly in the Southern Sudan Referendum 2011, recording 98.83% votes in favor of secession. This clearly shows that the people of Southern Sudan want change, from one united Sudan to an independent new country. They expect to see a broad - based transitional government, capable of uniting them and delivering good governance, rule of law and services. The people expect to see these changes come immediately, without delay or hindrance. 10. The people of Southern Sudan have suffered and waited for the independence of Southern Sudan for so long; many have lost their lives in the course of the struggle for freedom. Now that freedom has been achieved, there is no justifiable reason to delay the declaration of an independent South Sudan any further than July 9th 2011. 11. The people of Southern Sudan voted for change and that change must be seen to be happening in the manner in which the transitional arrangements and the transitional governments are agreed upon and the transitional government is formed, in accordance to the consensus achieved at the All South Sudan Political Parties Conference, in October 2010. Otherwise, failure to effect appropriate changes, will make our people lose trust in the government of an independent South Sudan , and that can become a source of insecurity, political, social and economic instability in our new nation. 12. All nations that find themselves in the eve of independence, like Southern Sudan is today, aspire to attain that independence in an atmosphere of total political consensus and national agreement, even when their existing political parties are known to have political disagreements or differences. ------------------------ Withdrawal of South Sudan Political Parties from the Technical Committee for the Review of the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan 2005, and the Task Forces Press release Date: 07th March 2011, SSN; 1/ We, the undersigned South Sudan Political Parties, would like to make the following statement with regards to the work of the technical committee for the review of the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan 2005. 2/ Following the Presidential Decree No: GOSS/PD/J/002/2011, appointing 24 members of SPLM as Technical Committee to review the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan 2005, a second decree was issued by the President of GOSS known as Decree No: Goss/PD/J/08/2011 dated 17/ 2/2011 appointing 11 members of other political parties to join the technical committee for the review of the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan 2005. On 21st February 2011, another decree was issued by the President of GOSS appointing additional 17 members of SPLM making the total of 41 members of SPLM in the technical committee. 3/ Nonetheless, we joined the Committee out of our commitment to the spirit of consensus that emerged from the All South Sudan Political parties Conference held in October 2010. We went to the meetings of the Committee full of hope that we were going to forge ahead together in order to accomplish the great task assigned to us by our leaders of South Sudan. However, the Southern Sudan political parties represented in the technical committee to review the Interim Constitution of the Southern Sudan 2005, hereby declare that our continuity in the said committee has become untenable due to following reasons:- A/ In our first plenary of the technical committee for the review of the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan 2005 dated 28/2/2011, we agreed on the rules of procedure for deliberations and decision-making in the Committee and its sub-committees to be by consensus as is the case in all multi-party discussions everywhere. The rules of procedures were violated by the SPLM, who had a majority of 41 members versus 11 members of other political parties thus; they imposed a vote in the second meeting. We objected to this to no avail. B/ In spite of our previous agreement, the SPLM decided to use the simple majority contrary to what had been agreed upon as a means to reach decisions on contentious issues of vital national interest. This means that no matter what input other political parties may have, their contribution is over- ruled by the majority votes. In this case, the Political Parties found themselves in a difficult situation on how to be effective. Therefore, their participation and performance becomes ineffective in the deliberations of the review committee. C/ As is usually the case, the Committee was expected to discuss the principles of the Transitional Constitution before embarking on the details. The SPLM members in the Committee were not ready to do so, and we were made to discuss a prepared text, which they had already written and passed prior to our joining of the Technical committee. D/ Some matters on which there was disagreement in the Committee were referred to the President of GOSS who is the Chairman of the SPLM for ruling. If such a thing happens, then the Committee would have been rendered meaningless. The understanding is that the Committee will have to do its work alone and eventually report to the President of GOSS. E/ The SPLM was insistent that the executive and legislative institutions of the Government of Southern Sudan complete their mandate given them by the last general elections, that is up to 2015, at the same time they contradicted themselves by insisting that the same institutions continue for a term of 5 years from 9th July 2011, that is up to 2016! This closes the door for the discussion on the transitional arrangements agreed upon in the All South Sudan Political Parties Conference (see Para 3(b) of the Final Communiqué). Our contention is that the current parliament was a sub- system within an old system that does not have legal provision to allow it to be carried forward to the new system in an independent and sovereign Republic of South Sudan as of 9th July. In accordance with Section 118 (2) of the Interim National Constitution 2005, which states that, “in the event of a vote for secession by the people of Southern Sudan, the seats of the members and representatives of Southern Sudanese in the national legislature shall be deemed to have fallen vacant and the national legislature, being so re-constituted, shall complete its tenure to the next elections period”. This means that as soon as the result of the referendum of Southern Sudan confirms secession, all Southern Sudanese in the national parliament shall lose their seats. It would be impractical, if not impossible, to incorporate such members into Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly, because their original mandate does not include SSLA, as they were directly elected to the National Assembly in the north and not Southern Sudan legislative Assembly in the south. Furthermore, SSLA ceases to exist at the end of the interim period, because it was not elected for an independent state of South Sudan. Therefore there are no provisions in the ICSS for its continuation into the independent state of South Sudan. The SPLM based their justification for the continuation of the current GOSS institutions after 9th of July 2011 on Article 208(7) of ICSS 2005.The other political Parties believe that Article 208(7) of ICSS 2005 is flawed and irrelevant to the Current Constitutional Review Process. If Article 208(7) were to hold, then: (i)The Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan 2005, (ICSS), would have remained in force as it is after the 9th of July 2011, and there would have been no need to carry out a constitutional review process as is currently the case. This review process is all about transforming a regional or sub-national constitution into a national one. That is, to provide for the sovereign constitutional needs of the new independent and sovereign state. It is not and can never be about removing parts that got repealed, for those parts are already redundant. (ii)The new Republic of South Sudan would be without national and sovereignty institutions, such as the President of the Republic, foreign affairs, national judicial organs, etc. This is because there are no provisions in the ICSS on such matters, since ICSS is a regional or sub-national constitution. This is the meaning of Article 208(7) when it provides that: “If the outcome of the referendum on self-determination favors secession, this Constitution shall remain in force as the Constitution of a sovereign and independent Southern Sudan, and the parts, chapters, articles, sub-articles and schedules of this Constitution that provide for national institutions, representation, rights and obligation shall be deemed to have been duly repealed.” Why would a national constitution repeal national institutions, etc.? Article 208(7) is flawed as it was copied without rumination from Article 226(10) of the Interim National Constitution, which stipulates: “If the outcome of the referendum on self-determination favors secession, the parts, chapters, articles, sub-articles and schedules of this Constitution that provide for Southern Sudan institutions, representation, rights and obligations shall be deemed to have been duly repealed.” In the case of the Interim National Constitution, there was no need for an immediate review of it since it already provides for national and sovereignty matters and repeal of some of its parts that relate to Southern Sudan do not affect its national character. Since the decision on this vital matter of national interest is to be taken by simple majority, then, the views of the other political parties cannot be considered by the SPLM. Therefore, the political parties feel that they cannot be effective in the deliberations of the technical committee simply because the SPLM overwhelmingly exercised the concept of simple majority versus consensus, which is contrary to the procedures already agreed upon. F/ On power sharing, the other political parties proposed that it is to be 50:50, as discussed in the meeting. This percentage applies to the national, states and county levels. G/ The other political parties wanted a lean government/legislature in order to save money for front-line services such as health, education, water, roads etc. The SPLM on the other hand want a bigger government because they wanted to accommodate their members who were in northern Sudan. H/ The political parties strongly believe that public security and external security cannot be under single directorate because this would be tantamount to monopolization of power. I/ For the above reasons, we the political parties would like to call on the South Sudanese public and the international community to know that if : the SPLM cannot subscribe to the principles of democracy as the wave of 21st century, we hereby declare that we as political parties will not subscribe to such process. We further want to register that we would like to start our new nation on the right foot cognizant of the past lessons we have learned from the African nation states including the Sudan. Furthermore, we would like to state that:- 1- The SPLM have no intention to allow the other Southern Sudan political parties to effectively participate in writing the transitional constitution of South Sudan. On the contrary, they want the transitional constitution to reflect the interest of the SPLM alone; 2- The SPLM does not desire the other Southern Sudan political Parties to participate in a broad-based government of an independent South Sudan. Furthermore, The SPLM feels that they alone liberated South Sudan and as such must be rewarded by forming an SPLM government of independent South Sudan. The unity of South Sudanese at the point of independence is not important to them. 3- The SPLM has clearly shown that it is not committed to democracy, good governance and the rule of law. As such, and to avoid rubber stamping only SPLM dictates, we the other Political Parties have decided to pull out from the constitutional review committee. May God bless us all The following Political Parties endorsed this press release: UDF David William USSP Felix Charles SLP Shadrack Baker SPLM-DC Samuel Aban CPS Ismail Suleiman UDSF Alakeer Malual SSDF/ Front Prof/ David Dechan SDA Mustafa Elhaj Yousef END ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan Advisor Sudan Ecumenical Forum [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +249 919 695 362 (Sudan mobile) +27 82 853 3556 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 304 1790 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. 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