Bashir invites opposition to join govt as referendum nears
January 1, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir on Friday reversed defiant remarks he made earlier this week and called on opposition to join his government as the country inches closer towards a likely breakup.
The Sudanese leader said that this move would help “unite the internal front”.
On Friday, Bashir responded to calls by opposition for a nation government by telling them “to lick their elbows”.
“There will not be a national government,” he told supporters in Al-Gezira state where he inaugurated several projects on the occasion of Memorial Day.
A week from today eligible Southern Sudanese voters will flock to the polls and decide whether they want to remain united with the North or establish their own state. It is all but certain that the second option will be the overwhelming one.
If the south secedes as expected, the departure of the south and its ruling party from parliament and government in 2011 will leave a quarter of the parliament and cabinet posts open and available to the northern opposition should they wish to join.
But opposition gave a cool reception to Bashir’s call saying it falls short of their demands.
“We totally reject this — the only solution now is for Bashir to resign, hold new elections and a forum to agree a new constitution,” Kamal Omer, a senior official from the opposition Popular Congress Party told Reuters.
Mubarak Al-Fadil, leader of dissolved Umma Reform and Renewal Party (URRP), echoed Omer’s sentiments.
“They want to keep the control of the National Congress Party on the crucial organs of the state and simply offer some positions to opposition. This is not change and will achieve nothing,” Al-Fadil told Sudan Tribune.
He also expressed doubts whether this invite is a genuine one saying that it is likely “a tactical move”.
The former Prime Minister and head of the National Umma Party has given the government until January 26 to meet his demands or else he might join the ranks of forces seeking to oust the regime.
Opposition parties want a roundtable conference on which the participants will agree on rewriting a new constitution, forming an interim government to prepare for elections and work on resolving the Darfur crisis.
Bashir is under pressure most notably being the only sitting head of state indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) accused of war crimes and genocide in the war-torn western Darfur region.
He has shunned several regional and international events as a result of the warrant which has increased his political isolation.
Also a number of radical Islamic clerics have warned that allowing the south to secede is against the religion and that the government should scrap the referendum.
The NCP has rejected accusations that it will bear the historical responsibility for allowing the South to break away stressing that it is the first political power with the courage to give Southerners the self-determination right.
But opposition parties say that the ruling party has done nothing to make unity attractive and instead focused on dominating the decision making process despite being joined by the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM).
(ST)
Maguangdit
Bashir invites opposition to join govt as referendum nears
Mr. Al-Bashiiir, when did you realize to relent? Please, don`t panic! You must accept the realities; otherwise, these opposition parties can simply hand you over to the ICC.
If you believe you have some Arabs who support you as you did when you killed the Southern Sudanese, then they have some Arabs who support them against you and you know it well. They are not joking if you joke!
Therefore, the dissolution of the NCP and fair distribution of power is the only solution to your eminent Northern Sudan crisis.
mohammed ali
Bashir invites opposition to join govt as referendum nears
Arabs..Arabs , what is problem with you man; if he is Arab these oppostion parties are also Arabs, Turabi, Mahadi, Margani …they are all the same..
Finito..Arabs or non Arabs we are alone and you are alone, what is your problem? We wish you all the best, what do you want more!
Marco A. Wek
Bashir invites opposition to join govt as referendum nears
Well, Mohamed Ali, we have not yet formed our own state and like you are still mingling in our affairs and so do we. As to the question of unity and separation in Sudan, both the opposition parties in the North and Al Bashir are right in some ways. Yes the ruling party did not do anything whatsoever to make unity attractive but their views towards Southerners and other marginalized parts of Sudan is not any different all the past Northern Sudanese governments, that is keeping them under developed. Making unity attractive means developing South, a thing which is not in their dictionary.
Yes Omar Al Bashir and his party are the first Northern Sudanese party that the courage and willingness to agree on Southern Sudan referendum which means, he and his party have realized, it is no use denaying people their rights under unity and keeping them hostages at the same time which would mean endless civil war and loss of lives everyday. It was a good move from NCP headed by Bashir.
Now make unity attractive Darfur, Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile and Eastern Sudan or they will follow the same path of South Sudan some day whether being it in fourth or a hundred years.