Al-Mahdi blames South Sudan split on rulers’ failure to handle diversity
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July 8, 2011 (JUBA) – Sudan’s former Prime Minister Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi
has attributed the secession of South Sudan to the failure of the
country’s rulers in managing its diversity, warning in the process
against a new war between the two countries.
JPEG - 16.6 kb
Former prime minister of Sudan Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi (AFP)
Today, 9 July, South Sudan declares formal independence from the North
after the region’s citizens voted overwhelmingly to secede in a
referendum held at the start of this year.
The vote was stipulated under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement
(CPA) which ended more than two decades between the predominately
Christian South and the Muslim-dominated North.
In a sermon he delivered following Friday prayers in South Sudan’s
capital Juba, Al-Mahdi fulminated against the legitimacy of the rule
of the National Congress Party (NCP) in North Sudan, saying that the
secession of the South had further undermined the party’s credibility.
He further accused NCP’s leaders of peddling delusion about the beauty
of Sudan’s map after secession, adding that the current map is
“melancholic and indicative of detraction.”
Al-Mahdi, who had two spells in power as the country’s Prime Minister
- and was ousted by a coup led by Sudan’s now president Omar Hassan
Al-Bashir - acknowledged that the secession of South Sudan was a
product of failure by the country’s rulers to manage diversity within
unity.
The leader of the opposition National Umma Party (NUP) warned against
what he termed as “the rise of racist and war-attracting rhetoric” by
Northern and Southern leaders, accusing them of being unaware of the
dangers of the new war.
Al-Mahdi called on the international community to participate in
finding a solution to pending issues between North and South Sudan, in
reference to disagreements over the borders and oil, warning that
these issues could lead to war.
Separately, the NUP leader reiterated defense of his party’s decision
to engage in dialogue with the NCP, saying they were negotiating with
the NCP to prevent the disintegration of Sudan.
In a press conference held in Juba on Thursday, Al-Mahdi said that the
dialogue between his party and the NCP had reached an advanced level.
However, he added that disagreements remain over essential issues
“such as the International Criminal Court (ICC), Darfur and the
national government.”
He further divulged that the dialogue was recently undermined by the
issues of Abyei, South Kordofan and the Blue Nile as well as the NCP’s
decision to deprive southerners from citizenship in the North.
“We have Americans and British citizens in the government itself, how
come we deprive the country’s people’s in the South from citizenship,”
Al-Mahdi said in reference to the fact that some senior NCP officials
are holders of Western passports.
(ST)
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