Sudan’s Umma party out of new cabinet, DUP denies any intention to participate
October 26, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The leader of the National Umma Party (NUP), al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, met secretly with Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir last week and informed him that his party will not join the new cabinet, a newspaper reported today.
Al-Akhbar newspaper said that the hastily arranged meeting took place in the early morning hours of Wednesday at Bashir’s residence.
Bashir has reportedly pledged to the opposition leader that he will form a government capable of bearing the responsibilities of the next phase with an approach that aims to achieve the principles of consent and transparency and ensure the rights of others including opposition to monitor and criticize.
Al-Mahdi promised to play the role of responsible opposition through dialogue and making the interests of the country a priority.
On Tuesday, the NUP political bureau issued a statement reiterating that no participation in any government will take place unless in the framework of a ‘national agenda’ that is agreed on by all political powers.
The opposition party also affirmed its goal of uniting national ranks for establishment of a new regime based on the national agenda.
The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) has been in talks for month with major opposition parties namely NUP and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in order to convince them to be part of the upcoming government.
Following the secession of the south last July, posts held by southerners in the government became vacant and the NCP has been hoping that opposition parties would fill them in the first post-secession cabinet.
Observers say that despite the NCP achieving a landslide victory in April 2010 elections, it still feels the need for bolstering its legitimacy by having opposition parties entering the cabinet. While the NUP boycotted the elections, the DUP did not but managed to win only a handful of seats in the national assembly.
The DUP on the other hand has been giving conflicting signals on whether it is willing to join the NCP dominated government. Several media reports have suggested that the DUP is now negotiating its allocation in the proposed cabinet.
But Hassan Abu Sabeeb, a leading DUP figure, vehemently denied the reports describing them as lies. He stressed that his party will “never” join the government adding that it does not suit the DUP’s weight and will not be of any benefit.
The DUP official said that dialogue with NCP is limited to three subjects including constitution, economy and ending armed conflicts raging in several parts of the country.
In a related issue, the NCP leadership council met today and its spokesperson Ibrahim Ghandour told reporters afterwards that the cabinet will likely be formed before Eid Al-Adha holiday next month.
(ST)