Sudan’s ruling NCP planning multi-parties convention in Juba
September 19, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese ruling National Congress Party (NCP) is planning a convention in the Southern capital of Juba with participation of parties allied with it, according to a newspaper report.
The meeting agreed on the establishment of eight committees to interact with several political parties and brief them on the purpose of the Juba convention that has a preliminary scheduled date for sometime in October.
The move is a apparent bid to counter the meeting of opposition parties in Juba next week which is hosted by Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPM).
The NCP directed bitter criticism against the SPLM and participating parties accusing them of seeking to forge an alliance that would isolate the dominant party in the country.
The conference was postponed days before it was set to start at the request of the NCP to reconsider participating in it. It I snow scheduled for after the Eid holiday that ends on Wednesday.
The parties expected to take part in the Juba conference for opposition parties is comprised of the Umma National Party, Umma Reform and Renewal Party, Sudanese Communist Party, Popular Congress Part (PCP), and other smaller parties.
The DUP has made contradictory statements on the status of its participation. The latest reports indicate that the DUP will send a representative to the meeting.
The Sudanese presidential assistant Nafi Ali Nafi said that the NCP proposed conference is to be named ‘Convention of the People of Sudan’ that will mainly discuss the issue of unity adding its different from the one organized by opposition parties which he described as having “pre-fixed agenda”.
The SPLM spokesperson Yen Mathew criticized the proposed NCP meeting saying it amounts to “political jealousy”.
He dismissed claims by the NCP that they were not invited to the Juba opposition conference disclosing that SPLM Vice President Riek Machar extended invitation personally to Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.
Mathew said the NCP meeting is “doomed to fail” labeling it as a “reaction” to the opposition conference.
“In our view we need a national consensus in critical issues like elections and requirements for democratic transformation,” the SPLM spokesperson said.
He accused the NCP of wanting to maintain control over power and not being genuine “on reconciliation and national healing”.
The coordinator for the Juba conference organized by opposition parties Mubarak Al-Fadil told Sudan Tribune in an interview this month that the NCP is wary of any national consensus over the political crisis facing the country.
(ST)