Mbeki’s panel flirting with failure in Sudan

March 14, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — The former South African president and head of the AU High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) Thabo Mbeki sent a letter to leaders of Sudanese parties this week informing them of an indefinite adjournment of a summit that was to bring them together to discuss a number of thorny issues primarily related to the upcoming elections in April.

“The panel had twice to postpone the meeting at the request of some of the parties. This is because these parties wanted that various issues should be resolved before the meeting convened…the panel respected this request and convened a number of meetings with the parties concerned to enable them to resolve the matters they have raised” Mbeki said in a copy of the letter seen by Sudan Tribune dated March 8.

“Regrettably, in the end, all the numerous efforts of the panel to facilitate a resolution of these and other matters failed. It is therefore became obvious that in the light of this negative development it would not be possible for the summit meeting to achieve what the panel had considered would be its historic result, namely the adoption of the Electoral Code of Conduct and the Declaration of Common Commitments”.

The downbeat-toned letter said that convening the summit under these circumstances “would only serve further to foul the atmosphere in the country by exacerbating the divisions among the Sudanese political leadership”.

Mbeki said his panel “gained a deeper understanding of the prevalent and most unfortunate mistrust which has so far made it impossible to organize an open and frank encounter among all Sudan’s political leaders to discuss all major national challenges, which we are certain all these leaders desire”.

The new development highlights the challenging environment AUHIP had to grapple with only months away from April elections and the South Sudan 2011 referendum vote.

AUHIP was tasked with implementing all aspects of the AUPD recommendations and assist the Sudanese parties in the implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and other related processes, as part of the democratic transformation of Sudan.

The Sudanese government while expressing reservations on the justice component has expressed support to the recommendations of the report and vowed to support the work of AUHIP.

Since its establishment through an AU resolution last October, the commission has sought to bring together the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and opposition parties to bridge differences on political freedoms and powers under national security law, elections and Darfur crisis.

Last month one of the opposition leaders who spoke to Sudan Tribune on condition of anonymity expressed disappointment that AUHIP has not managed to achieve any tangible results to discharge their mandate.

He revealed that Mbeki has agreed to sponsor the NCP-opposition conference and has provided the parties with a written agenda to be discussed which included “challenges facing Sudan at this juncture; conducting fair and free elections with sub-items tackling code of conduct and voter civic education; post-elections arrangements; Darfur conflict”.

However, the agenda was trimmed down by Mbeki for unknown reasons to the surprise of the opposition leaders prompting protests from them.

“We told him that we came for the specific agenda he furnished beforehand to discuss serious issues particularly setting up the proper legal framework for the elections to be held in a fair manner. The NCP wants to cherry-pick what to talk about and Mbeki bent to their pressure. This is unacceptable,” the opposition leader said.

The opposition leader said at subsequent meetings it appeared that the ruling party has no “genuine interest to make concessions” with regard to referendum, Darfur, CPA implementation, democratic transformation and elections.

Mbeki stressed in his letter that the panel wants to work “in an even handed manner” and committed to working “in a manner that addresses the deep seated aspirations of the people of Sudan and African as a whole”.

He said that the “vitally important reality that the overwhelming majority of the Sudanese electorate registered to vote in the forthcoming April 2010 general elections”.

Furthermore he called on all Sudanese parties to endorse the electoral code of conduct which was signed earlier this month in Juba by 17 parties mainly from the South.

The AU hopes to implement a similar agreement in the north, although northern based parties including the Umma and Popular Congress Party (PCP) signed the code in Juba.

One Sudanese columnist in Khartoum contacted by Sudan Tribune commented on the letter by saying that the AU panel “is all but failing”.

“The panel was formed when it was already too late and on top of that they had a lot to learn about the reality of the political situation in Sudan and there is really no time for this. The NCP also does not see the need to listen to Mbeki except as part of a public relations meeting. One of their officials said before that they have the AU is in their pocket so they are not overly worried about pressure coming from that direction” the columnist said.

He also noted that the goal set by AUHIP on resolving the Darfur conflict before the elections was “unrealistic” one.

On February 23, Khartoum and JEM signed a temporary cease-fire and a framework agreement for peace in the western Sudanese region, but several other important rebel factions have rejected the deal. Furthermore, JEM has demanded a rescheduling of elections, something which the government rejected.

The Darfur conflict has claimed about 300,000 lives and displaced 2.7 million people, according to UN figures, since it erupted in February 2003. Khartoum puts the death toll at 10,000.

(ST)