Sudan’s Machar travels to Khartoum for talks with NCP leadership
By James Gatdet Dak
December 8, 2009 (JUBA) – Following the arrest of senior SPLM officials in the national capital on Monday, the Vice President of the Government of Southern Sudan, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, traveled to Khartoum on Tuesday for talks with the leadership of the National Congress Party (NCP).
The two were later on released after hours in police custody. Arman was brutally beaten and had to be taken to hospital for medical care.
Following the arrests on Monday morning, the SPLM party leadership on the same day held an emergency meeting in Juba and resolved to continue pursuing dialogue with the National Congress Party to resolve the outstanding issues in the CPA implementation.
The party leadership meeting also resolved that the SPLM would do every thing in its power not to divert the peaceful implementation of the peace deal.
Machar, who is also the deputy chairperson of the SPLM and co-chair of the Joint Executive Political Committee with the Vice President of Sudan and NCP deputy chairman, Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, would resume the negotiations on the outstanding issues in the CPA implementation.
These will include among others the referenda laws for Southern Sudan and Abyei, popular consultations for Southern Kordufan and Southern Blue Nile as well as national security laws needed to make democratic transformation possible in the country.
Machar said his team wants to remove from the national security law the powers to arrest, detain, and seize suspect’s property, adding that the responsibility of the body would be to gather information and analyze it before availing it to relevant authorities for action.
He earlier said the two parties were progressing well in their discussions on the popular consultations for the two regions.
He explained that the only outstanding issue in the bills was about identifying a body to which the two parties – central government and region concerned – would resort to for arbitration in case of any future disagreement over the exercise and outcome of the consultations.
The two regions will conduct their respective consultations on their future administrative and political status within northern Sudan.
On Abyei referendum, Machar said the remaining issue was the definition of eligible voter in the referendum.
He explained that the CPA talks of the residents as Ngok Dinka and other Sudanese communities, adding that the two parties are trying to define who these “Sudanese communities” or residents are.
NCP wants the Messiriya tribe residing in Abyei to be mentioned by name; a position the SPLM has rejected.
He said the NCP also denied the participation in the referendum of Ngok Dinka citizens who reside outside of Abyei territory on the ground that they don’t qualify the CPA definition of ‘residents’ in Abyei.
On Southern Sudan referendum turnout quorum which has remained contentious, the SPLM has conceded 55% while the NCP wants 60% and that the matter should be agreed upon as a package with other remaining contentious issues.
The two parties had earlier agreed on 51% in favor of separation votes of the would-be agreed quorum to declare the South independent.
The bills under discussions are supposed to be passed by the national Council of Ministers and National Assembly in its current last session which is expected to expire in two weeks.
The First Vice President of Sudan and President of the Government of Southern Sudan, General Salva Kiir Mayardit, who is also the chairperson of the SPLM, on Monday called on the ruling National Congress Party to extend the life span of this current session of the National Assembly so that it can pass the remaining laws under discussion.
(ST)