Constitutional breakdown in Sudan may lead to secession by South: Former PM

By: Wasil Ali

October 12, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Former Sudanese Prime Minister and leader of the opposition Umma party Sadiq al-Mahdi said that the power crisis that erupted between the two partners in the government may lead to the secession of the south.

Al-Mahdi who spoke by phone to Sudan Tribune from Khartoum said that if the deadlock between Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLM) and the National Congress party (NCP) persist, both sides may resort to unilateral measures such as the declaration of statehood by the Southerners.

“If the NCP and SPLM fail to resolve their problems the latter has two choices; they can request foreign mediation or they can decide to declare their independence from the rest of Sudan. We hope they don’t pick either choices” Al-Mahdi said.

Last Thursday the SPLM decided to suspend their participation in the national unity government because of what they describe as the NCP’s failure to fully implement crucial elements of the CPA.

The latest move by the SPLM raised concern that the Comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) that ended two decades of civil war between the Arab and Muslim-dominated north and the mainly Christian and animist black southerners may unravel.

The US called on the SPLM and the NCP to exercise restraint and to implement all terms of the CPA.

The outspoken opposition leader said the recent deterioration in the political situation came as no surprise to him given the way the CPA was brokered and the terms that it came with.

“The CPA was signed under pressure by foreign mediators on the two sides. Many parts of the agreement were vague and mysterious. The result was that the SPLM and NCP signed an agreement against their will. Both sides have practically been in a cold war ever since” he added.

Al-Mahdi said that resolving the problems in the country require a comprehensive solution once and for all that involves all political powers in Sudan. But he said that the SPLM and NCP rejected the idea.

“Under the agreement peace was associated with the NCP and SPLM. How can you have fair and free elections if their rules and procedures will be decided by only two parties while leaving out all other forces?” Al-Mahdi said.

The former prime minister stressed that the next elections will not be free because the NCP holds all the strings of power in Sudan just like any totalitarian regime in other countries.

Asked whether the call by the NCP to conduct more consultations with the SPLM could end he crisis Al-Mahdi said that any bilateral solutions reached are likely to be nothing but “painkillers”.

Observers raised concern that the current situation may negatively impact efforts to resolve a separate crisis in the war torn region of Darfur. Peace talks between Khartoum and Darfur rebel groups are overshadowed by escalation of violence and boycotting by some factions.

On Thursday, the only Darfur rebel faction to sign the 2006 peace agreement led by Minni Arcua Minnawi the head of the SLA who became presidential adviser in Khartoum, called for an international investigation into an attack on their forces in Muhajiriya, where at least 45 were killed and dozens injured.

“The Sudanese regime is cornered by the showdown with Minnawi and SPLM; cracks in the recently signed agreement with Eastern rebels; their stalling on the hybrid force and the upcoming report by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court that will declare that the government is not cooperating with his office” Al-Mahdi said.

The Sudanese leader said that his party is in contact with all the political forces to contain the face-off between the SPLM and NCP.

The 2005 peace agreement brokered by the US and other western countries that ended Africa’s bloodiest conflict left some 2 million people dead in fighting, related disease or famine.

(ST)