Sudan ruling NCP slams Umma party accord with JEM

July 4, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) slammed the recent declaration of principles signed between Sudan Umma Party headed by former Prime Minister Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi and the Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in the Egyptian capital this week.

The main aspects of the accord are the branding of the current government as “unconstitutional” after July 9th, expressing skepticism over the fifth census results and a call for respecting UN Security Council (UNSC) 1593 which referred the Darfur case to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The NCP political bureau officer Mandoor Al-Mahdi said that his party as not surprised “by the conflicting messages of some politicians”.

He said that agreement violates the “proper political practices” since JEM “resorts to violence”. The NCP official expressed surprise over the clause relating to census.

The adviser to the Sudanese president Abdullah Masar who is an ex-Umma party member described the accord as “ political maneuvering”.

Masar expressed surprise for a political party to sign an agreement with an armed movement saying that the purpose is to send signals that the Umma party can maneuver with other armed movements.

He further said that Abdel Rahman Bishara Dosa Umma party Secretary of the Political Bureau who signed the agreement is a “non-active member” of the party.

Umma party officials dismissed the criticism saying that the accord is part of a wider policy to forge understanding and common ground with all political powers.

The party’s Secretary General Sideeg Ismail said that “no one can prevent the Umma party from playing its role in small or big national issues”.

He said that the NCP wants to negotiate with JEM in Qatar and don’t want the Umma party to do the same thing.

In May 2008 the Umma Party signed an agreement known as “National Reconciliation Agreement” which largely outlines a number of fundamental principles that both sides share the same views on.

At the time, ex-PM Al-Mahdi blasted other opposition parties and advised them to join the agreements “before it is too late”.

However, last December the Umma Party leader acknowledged the failure of the agreement blaming “hawks inside the regime and within the opposition”.

The NCP insists that he has implemented most of the items on the “National Reconciliation Agreement” but the Umma party said it was largely ignored.

(ST)