Sudanese president earns harsh rebuke from opposition party
September 30, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The opposition National Umma Party (NUP) on Tuesday strongly rejected remarks by president Omer al-Bashir against its leader Sadiq al-Mahdi, stressing the former cannot prevent the return of the ex-prime minister to Sudan.
In a defiant statement, NUP secretary general Sara Nugdalla said that al-Mahdi is latest elected legitimate prime minister before the coup d’état that brought Bashir to power in June 1989 adding “we have the legitimacy and you have the power”.
“The head of the coup regime is not entitled to allow or prevent the entry of the legitimate prime minister. His presence abroad depends on missions he is carrying outside the country, and on the party’s institutions not the regime’s decisions,” the statement further said.
Immediately after Bashir’s remarks on Saturday 27 September, the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) announced that they would sue al-Mahdi for his participation in “activities against the country” including the “Paris Declaration and what followed in encounters”.
Nugadlla defended the deal with the rebel groups, stressing that Paris Declaration is a roadmap for a negotiated settlement and provides that “peaceful uprising” is the alternative if the national dialogue fails to achieve the democratic transition.
She further said that what Bashir said is inconsistent with the agreement on the national dialogue and constitutional process signed by the national dialogue committee, NUP and SRF.
That may means one of two things: first the regime will renege on its pledges or what the Marshal said was just a fit of political jealousy because the Paris Declaration prevents him from manoeuvring with dialogue process and forces him to move forwards, Nugdallah said.
On Sunday speaking from the Egyptian capital where he resides Mahdi said his return depends on the developments of the national dialogue process.
(ST)