Umma party leader says NCP has one week to finalize deal
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April 1, 2011 (KHARTOUM) — The leader of the largest Northern
opposition party in Sudan issued a new ultimatum to the ruling
National Congress Party (NCP) saying that the talks between the
parties must be concluded within a week and warned that the regime
could face a popular uprising similar to the ones sweeping the region.
JPEG - 32.8 kb
Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, head of Sudan’s opposition Umma Party and former
prime minister (AFP)
Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi speaking at the Friday prayers sermon at the White
Nile state in central Sudan said there are "racist campaigns" in the
North to prepare for a military confrontation with the South.
The former civil war enemies in north and south Sudan have traded
bitter accusations since a January referendum on independence for the
south, where the population voted almost unanimously to break away and
form their own nation.
Last month, southern officials revealed documents they said detailed
northern arms shipments to southern militias, after a wave of deadly
clashes in the south. Khartoum has repeatedly rejected all such
accusations, and dismissed the documents as fabricated.
"Those reckless racists will drag the nation to a north-south war,
where the South will find substantial external support.....they are
playing with Sudan’s national security and will not rest their minds
until they carry out ethnic cleansing of southerners in the north and
destroy the state of the south which is a wrong direction [to take]
politically and morally, and will result in our destruction" Al-Mahdi
said.
The former Prime Minister listed five issues he said that are facing
the government which is the specter of war between north and south,
the drop of oil revenues after the secession of the south, the crisis
in the troubled region of Darfur and the arrest warrant by the
International Criminal Court against President Omer Hassan al-Bashir
and the perception of unilateralism to multilateralism cultural and
religious in the Sudan.
"In addition to these five fronts, the winds of democratic change are
coming from the Arab region, including the attachment to democracy and
the enthusiasm of youth, will be blowing in Sudan," he said.
He scoffed at remarks made by government officials that the situation
in Sudan is different than Egypt and Tunisia where deeply entrenched
regimes were toppled after people took the streets.
"The situation in Sudan is similar to the situation that led to the
Arab revolutions and even superior in more than ten items most
importantly corruption, rigging elections, the dominance of one party
and the media lies," Al-Mahdi said.
The opposition leader then addressed the ongoing dialogue with the NCP
stressing that the aims at writing a new constitution that guarantees
the right of equal citizenship, human rights, decentralization,
federalism within the 6 states of the North and their representation
in the presidency, ensuring the religious freedom for all and the
conciliation between citizenship and Islamic law, stopping hostility
towards the south, inking a brotherhood agreement between the North
and South, resolving the Darfur crisis, securing public freedoms that
is monitored by an independent commission, implementing a program for
economic reform, establishing a hybrid court for Darfur crimes,
establishing a broad based interim government that prepares for fair
and free elections.
He said that he believed the outcome of the dialogue will lead to a
"regime change using soft means that spare the country catastrophic
outcomes".
Al-Mahdi held a surprise meeting with the Sudanese president last
January in which they agreed to seek an understanding in resolving the
political deadlock between the NCP and opposition parties. He held
talks again last week with Bashir.
Officials from the Umma Party have given conflicting remarks on the
progress of the talks. The party’s SG Sideeg Ismail has said in press
remarks that 85% of issues have been agreed on but others downplayed
that.
Sources within the opposition party revealed deep resentment from the
dialogue with the NCP and many directed criticism at Al-Mahdi for what
they perceive as betrayal to the wishes of the base that want a move
to confrontation with the regime.
They noted a previous ultimatum given by Al-Mahdi last year that he
would either join the ranks of those calling for a regime change or
announce his retirement from politics if the NCP does not make
concessions.
(ST)
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