Turabi calls on political parties to unify to avoid fate of Syria and Iraq

February 7, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The secretary-general of the Popular Congress Party (PCP), Hassan al-Turabi, has called for building major alliances among political parties and warned that Sudan could face the fate of Syria and Iraq.

Turabi, who addressed the third general convention of the Federal Umma Party (FUP) on Saturday, said that political parties were plagued by tribalism which created divisions and conflicts and prevented building of coalitions.

“We look forward to uniting [our countries] one day as Europe did, we want to expand to the east and west beyond the borders,” he said.

“If federation had taken root in our souls, South Sudan wouldn’t have seceded,” he added .

The Islamic leader, who spoke in the presence of the Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir, seemed tolerant towards the regime and said the country swang between military and democratic regimes because people usually seek to achieve stability in the military rule however they uprise against it after a while.

“This time we were all inflicted by the sedition and the authorities turned against us before it drew closer to us using [soft] language and [ as the Quran says] if they incline to peace, then incline to it [also] and rely upon Allah,” he added.

Turabi split from the NCP in 1999 following a bitter power struggle with Bashir. He was subsequently ousted from his post as parliament speaker.

He later established the PCP and has since been a vociferous critic of the very regime for which he orchestrated the army-backed seizure of power in 1989.

However, he accepted to join the national dialogue initiative launched by Bashir last year and continued to adhere to it in spite of the withdrawal of major opposition parties from the process.

Analysts say Turabi believes that the opposition forces must stick to the dialogue process and seek to bring the regime to make the needed concessions in order to achieve democratic reforms.

“He believes that war and dismantlement of the country is the only alternative to the national dialogue,” they say.

Turabi expected the FUP to be the nucleus of the comprehensive unity of Sudanese parties, urging for upholding the spirit of collaboration for the sake of the home country.

He demanded the FUP members to seek to build coalitions, saying he wishes to see all political parties living in harmony and without divisions and infightings.

“I pray to Allah to reassure me of the [future] of this motherland before I die,” he added.

Turabi further described the bloody events in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Egypt as “wrath of Allah”, urging FUP members to become a model for unifying Sudanese people.

The chairman of the FUP, Ahmed Babikir Nahar, for his part, emphasised they will run in the upcoming elections at all levels except the presidency, pointing his party decided to support Bashir’s candidacy for another presidential term.

He said his party will nominate 800 candidates in all constituencies, noting that Sudan is going through a historic juncture which requires unity of all political forces in order to avoid the fate of Syria and Yemen.

Sudan’a general elections are scheduled for April.

The FUP is a splinter faction of the opposition National Umma Party (NUP) led by al-Sadiq al-Mahdi.

(ST)