Analysts cautiously welcome Sudan’s unity govt

Sept 22, 2005 (NAIROBI) — Sudan’s national unity
cabinet is a major step in implementing the peace
deal signed by Khartoum and the former southern Sudan
rebels, a Brussels-based think-tank, the
International Crisis Group (ICG), said Wednesday
here.

“The most important point is that it (unity
government) unlocks the door for the stalled peace
process to continue,” said David Mozersky, an ICG
researcher.

President Omar al Bashir announced Sudan’s unity
government late Tuesday, ending political jostling
over the much-awaited line-up between the Khartoum
and the former southern rebels who fought it, ending
decades of a civil war that claimed more than two
million lives.

The formation of the new government was delayed by a
row over who runs the energy portfolio, with control
of the vital oil industry, but in the end it remained
in the hands of the president’s National Congress
Party.

Analysts say that that biggest disappointment for the
southerners is that they have not been given the
energy and mining ministry, which includes the oil
sector although a wealth-sharing accord signed by the
two gave the southern Sudanese a bigger stake in the
oil revenue.

Bashir’s ruling NCP retained the powerful energy
portfolio after weeks of tough negotiations with the
former rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation
Movement. The north also keeps control of the key
defense, interior and finance posts.

But Mozersky said the formation of the government
could speed up implementation of key features of the
landmark peace agreement. Of the 29 ministries, 16
remain in the hands of the northern NCP, nine go to
the SPLM.

Former Foreign Minister Osman Mohamed was redeployed
as a senior advisor to the president and still
remains as part of the wider cabinet.

“Even if the southerners had all the top jobs, the
process of making unity attractive would be very long
and difficult. It is a matter of changing a whole
system and the way the government treats people,”
Mozersky said.

According to the same power-sharing agreement, the
SPLM of First Vice President Salva Kiir has 28 per
cent, the northern opposition 14 percent and the
southern opposition six percent of the stakes in the
government.

But analysts thought keeping Sudan united should have
been the main focus of the new administration
although the giving out of powerful posts to an all
pro-Khartoum team was seen as a risk factor for the
unity of the Sudan.

“The worrisome thing that emerged is that, more and
more, each and every step along the way appears to be
up for discussion and is re-opened for negotiation,”
the ICG analyst said.

“There is a need for the re-engagement of the
international community, which currently does not
have a clear role in overseeing the peace, and should
be holding the parties to the spirit and time-frame,”
Mozersky stressed.

(PANA/ST)