North Sudan: rifts within NCP surfaced over dialogue with opposition
* Article
* Comments (5)
email Email
print Print
pdfSave
separation
increase
decrease
separation
separation
*
*
*
*
April 23, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Signs of discord have begun to emerge
within the leadership of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in
north Sudan as two senior party officials openly contradicted each
other over the NCP’s dialogue with opposition parties.
JPEG - 17.2 kb
NCP’s Vice-President Nafi Ali Nafi (L) and Presidential Adviser for
Security Affairs, Salah Gosh, (R)
The NCP has been engaged in dialogue with two mainstream opposition
parties, the National Umma Party (NUP) of Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi and the
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) led by Mohamed Osman Al-Mirghani, as
tension continues to dominate the domestic political arena amid calls
by other opposition factions for political mobilization to topple the
regime
A divergence of opinions has emerged this week when Nafi Ali Nafi, the
NCP’s Vice-President, and Salah Gosh, the presidential adviser for
security affairs, openly criticized and contradicted each other on
whether the dialogue with opposition parties was sanctioned by the
party’s leadership.
In an interview broadcast by Sudan radio on Friday, Nafi said that the
dialogue conducted by Gosh with certain opposition parties “finds no
acceptance” within the party because it was not approved by the NCP’s
leadership.
Nafi, who is known for being a hard-liner who often makes derogatory
remarks against opposition parties, asserted that his party would not
negotiate over a transitional or national government to serve as a
tool to weaken his party or turn it into a minority group. “If they
(opposition parties) want this (a national government) they should
wait until next elections,” Nafi said.
But Salah Gosh on Saturday held a press conference in which he openly
faulted Nafi’s statement, saying “it is detrimental to the dialogue
and will make opposition parties run away from it.”
Gosh stressed that the dialogue was authorized and sponsored by the
party’s chairman, president Al-Bashir, and second Vice-President Ali
Osman Mohamed Taha.
Analysts have long pointed to divisions between the NCP’s wing of
hardliners and that of those who favor a conciliatory approach towards
the opposition, citing it as a reason for the slow progress the
dialogue has made so far.
Meanwhile, Nafi said in the same radio interview that president
Al-Bashir is scheduled to meet the NUP’s leader Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi to
discuss the pending points in the dialogue between the two parties.
Nafi revealed that the disagreements between the two parties lie in
the issue of dealing with the International Criminal Court (ICC),
which indicted Al-Bashir in connection to Darfur conflict, and the
issue of reducing Sudan’s current states to six regions.
Political tension in north Sudan has been exacerbated by worsening
economic conditions amid rising inflation and shortage of hard
currency due to the secession of South Sudan region in a referendum in
January.
Oppositionists and anti-government activists blame Al-Bashir’s
government for a long list of failures, including the loss of South
Sudan, rising cost of living, the conflict in Darfur and restrictions
on public liberties.
(ST)
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD
info" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected].
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
