Sudan’s SPLM blames NCP for breakdown of CPA talks
September 10, 2009 (WASHINGTON) — The ex-foes of the 22 years civil war in Sudan failed to break a deadlock on two main items of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) throwing into doubt the future of the accord already on shaky ground.
The tripartite committee that includes the US, National Congress Party (NCP) and Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) held another round of talks in Southern capital of Juba today.
Two issues remain outstanding between the dominant NCP and the SPLM including the referendum law and the census results that are to be used in determining the geographical constituencies but the South asserts the figures were rigged and rejects it.
The US special envoy to Sudan Scott Gration appearing downbeat said he was “disappointed” but vowed to continue discussions on the two items.
“I’m very disappointed that while we had excellent discussions, and I think we framed out the issues on both sides, we were not able to reach an agreement on the referendum law,” he told reporters in Juba.
“We will continue to discuss these issues on the margin of the UN General Assembly, and other times where it is appropriate,” he added.
Delay in bridging differences would mean pushing back the elections scheduled for April 2010 and the referendum in 2011.
The SPLM wants the electoral commission to use the percentages of the 1956 census for the geographical constituencies but the NCP vehemently rejects the idea.
On the referendum, the NCP insists that 75% votes in the affirmative to declare it favoring independence while the SPLM is pushing for a 51%. It is widely expected that Southerners would vote overwhelmingly for independence.
The SPLM Secretary General Pagan Amum said that the meetings did not tackle the census portion of the dispute but was entirely devoted to the referendum.
“The failure is huge and the NCP bears responsibility because it places impediments needed to reach a final formula on the referendum law” he was quoted by the London based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.
Amum revealed that the NCP wants the referendum to include Southerners in all of Sudan while his party wants it to be limited to Khartoum and the South.
The SPLM official said that Gration informed him about his inability to help the sides resolve their differences adding that the US official did not present any proposals.
No date has been set for new talks, Amum said.
In Khartoum, the head of the political sector at the NCP Qutbi Al-Mahdi pledged to defeat secession forces within the SPLM.
Al-Mahdi said that the NCP will mobilize all its resources in the South and form an alliance with pro-unity Southerners and national parties in the South to overcome secessionists and foreign agendas that want the South to turn into a small state with no basis to sustain itself so it can easily be controlled.
“We know the regional and international greed in South,” he said.
He also criticized the SPLM leadership for its “resorting to hostilities” and “working with foreigners against the nation”.
(ST)