Sudan interim constitution delayed until signing of Cairo deal

NAIROBI, 16 June 2005 (Sudan Radio Service) — The official spokesman of Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), Samson Kwaje, says the National Constitutional Review Commission has finished drafting the interim national constitution and it will be presented to President Omar el Bashir and John Garang next week.

Kwaje who addressed journalists in a Nairobi hotel at a launch of a film on Sudan on Tuesday June 15, said the presentation of the interim constitution will be delayed to accommodate the opposition National Democratic Alliance who are about to sign a peace agreement with the government in Cairo later this week.

He indicated that “The National Democratic Alliance – and these is mostly big northern parties, they are not part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement [signed on January 9, between Sudanese government and the SPLM]. They have not been participating in the constitution; there is hope that within 36 hours they will sign an agreement with the government of Sudan. And once they do that they will come to the final stages of the constitution process. So we are delaying the presentation probably until after the 20th of this month, so that they can come to Khartoum to participate in the final process and become part of the constitution making process.”

Kwaje said the inclusion of all political forces in the Sudan is a positive indicator that all Sudanese participated in the writing of the new constitution.