SPLM-N Agar urges EU to link cooperation with Sudan to peace and democracy
December 16, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N Agar) led by Malik Agar has urged the European Union (EU) to link its cooperation with the Sudanese government to peace and democratic reforms.
SPLM-N Agar deputy chairman Yasir Arman has met with the EU’s African affairs and members of the office of the EU special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan in Brussels.
Arman told Sudan Tribune the meeting discussed the political situation in Sudan as well as the issues of Sudanese and African illegal migrants in Europe.
He pointed out that the Movement demanded the EU to link its cooperation with the Sudanese government to the peace and democracy in the country as well as not allowing the regime to amend the constitution to allow President Omer al-Bashir to run for office again especially as he is wanted by the International Criminal Court.
“The improvement of living conditions for millions of poor and marginalized people in Sudan, fighting corruption and the provision of services for the residents is essentially linked to the removal of the National Congress Party’s (NCP) regime and ending the war and the EU should support the demand of the Sudanese people to hold free and fair elections” he said
Al-Bashir’s term ends in 2020 and he couldn’t run for office again according to the constitution.
Arman stressed the need to allow freedoms and prevent al-Bashir from running to office again, urging to improve the conditions, environment and mechanisms of the electoral process.
He said the Movement had boycotted the 2010 elections for several reasons including the possibility that the NCP could obstruct the referendum in South Sudan besides their late discovery that large numbers of their supporters have not registered to vote.
The SPLM-N Agar deputy chairman further vowed to prepare a detailed document showing their experience in the 2020 elections in order to learn from its lessons.
Arman underscored the Movement doesn’t seek to make a bilateral deal with the NCP or participate in the government, saying they aim to achieve structural reforms to benefit the marginalized masses and all Sudanese, not the elite class.
He stressed they seek to build a unified front to challenge the NCP through elections and mobilization of the masses to grab their rights in the peace, decent living and equal citizenship.
In a letter recently sent to the opposition groups, the SPLM-N Agar leader, Malik Agar, asked the opposition to consider participation in the 2020 elections.
He called to reach a joint political agenda for change linking the upcoming elections to a just peace and democratic transition in the country.
The Sudanese opposition forces used to boycott the electoral process in the country since the 1989 coup d’état, denouncing the lack of peace, and democratic environment. The rejection of electoral process allowed the regime to divide the opposition and attract some forces.
While the political process brokered by the African Union is deadlocked, various political and civil society groups call to amend the constitution to re-elect al-Bashir for a third term.
Several opposition groups such as the National Consensus Forces (NCF) which includes the Sudanese Communist Party and the Broad National Front (BNF) reject any negotiated solution with the NCP and insist on the need to eradicate al-Bashir’s regime through the popular uprising.
But, other political forces from the opposition umbrella Sudan Call such as the National Umma Party of Sadiq al-Mahdi back Agar’s implicit call to participate in the elections saying it would create a new dynamic enabling the political forces to mobilise the street and challenge the regime.
On the other hand, the NCP welcomed Agar call, describing it as a real shift in the positions of the armed opposition regarding the peaceful transformation of power.
(ST)