Striking Change
Editorial, Arab News
1 July 2005 — At last the political paralysis in the face of internal rebellion and immense external pressures seems to be coming to an end in Sudan. President Omar Bashir’s government has announced an end to the six-year state of emergency and the release of all political prisoners, the most prominent being his former ally and now most outspoken critic, Hassan Al-Turabi, who has been detained several times since two men fell out in 1999.
Emergency provisions will continue in Darfur and the Northeast of the country where the Beja community is in rebellion but yesterday’s events indicate that even a solution to these conflicts could be drawing close. The next important step will be the signing of a new constitution that will signal the creation of an interim government. This will for the first time include members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) group. Last December the Bashir government inked a deal with Southern leaders bringing to an end a 21-year conflict between Khartoum and SPLA rebels which has cost over 1.5 million lives.
In return for limited autonomy and a share in central government, the breakaway rebellion has finally ceased and with it one of Africa’s seemingly most intractable and bloody conflicts. Too little credit however has been given to the Bashir administration for this statesman-like deal, in part because the achievement was very rapidly overshadowed by Darfur for which it appeared Khartoum had little answers.
All eyes will now be on how Bashir handles Hassan Al-Turabi and indeed whether room will be found for the released politician and his Popular National Congress (PNC) party within the interim government. The two men finally fell out when Turabi tried to limit presidential powers with a parliamentary bill.
That Bashir chose to release all political prisoners and end the emergency on the 16th anniversary of the military coup that brought him to power may possibly send confusing signals. Yesterday’s measures would seem to indicate that the administration has accepted that it can no longer face down opposition, rebellion and secession with main force. Instead it must be prepared to talk and compromise. The massive achievement of the peace deal with the Southern rebels is positive proof that the Bashir government does have the necessary flexibility and wisdom. Which is why its failure in Darfur and the slowly worsening conflict in the Northeast of the country are so puzzling.
The common denominator to all Sudan’s rebellions is that they are by minorities who believe they have been marginalized by Sudanese society. Bashir would be wise to move swiftly to the interim government and accept political pluralism, which could include the strident criticism of Turabi. By so doing he will disarm international criticism while giving his administration a powerful platform from which to apply the successful formula used in the South to the rebellions of Darfur and the Northeast. By continuing to embrace the diversity of Sudan, the president will be restoring its unity.