Opposition Ummah leader calls Egyptian president to hold a summit for peace in Sudan
DOHA, Qatar, June 09, 2004 (Sudan Tribune) — Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, leader of the Sudanese opposition Ummah Party, has proposed that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak call for a summit that would include the most prominent Sudanese political leaders to create “a mechanism” for the peace.
According to the London based al-Hayat daily newspaper, al-Mahadi said : “We proposed two steps. One is to have a senior leader in the region call for a Sudanese political summit that brings together president Omar Al-Bashir, SPLM chairman John Garang, Ummah Party leader Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, and Democratic Unionist Party leader Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani so as to reach a mechanism.
He further added that after this summit, a forum called a “national council” would be held and he proposed to invite 12 political forces.
The leader of the Ummah party pointed out that the two concerned parties – the government and the SPLM, admit that they do not represent all Sudan and there needs to be therefore a comprehensive Sudanese mechanism.”
To justify this proposal, al-Mahdi said all the opposition northern and southern political forces were absent form the peace talks.
Nonetheless, “the people welcome important steps in the agreement that put an end to hostilities, comply with the international human rights charters, and form an independent body to monitor the human rights and also the agreement to have mechanisms that ensure control of the budget revenues and expenditures in total transparency.”
PROBLEMS AND FLAWS IN THE PEACE AGREEMENT
On the other hand, al-Mahdi considers that the government and SPLM say in the principles that they give priority to unity while they distribute the revenue in a way that gives priority to secession when they say that 50 per cent of the south’s oil is for the south. “Here a secessionist can say that it is better to secede so as to take all the revenue”.
For him, the wealth – in the protocols – could have been distributed on the basis of the demographic proportions and priority given to the areas suffering from a development gap and which were affected by the war.
Regarding the national army al-Mahdi said they say that the armed forces will be national: 50 per cent from the present government army, which is the regime’s army, and 50 per cent from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. This means that the army is dual and not national.”
Al-Mahdi also pointed to “a vagueness that rendered the dates for the elections linked to quicksand. They did not set (the elections) date. This means that they made them dependent on shifting factors even though the elections issue is vital.
The text about reconciliation and lifting the injustice is weak and could have been like the text done in South Africa, the one that formed the truth and reconciliation commission.
The protocols also include principles that can stir other northern and southern parties that will say these must be applied to us too. Wealth cannot be distributed on this basis and other areas should not be treated unfairly.”
Al-Mahdi told Al-Hayat that his condition for participating in government in the coming stage “is that the participation should be part of the democratic change and within the framework of what gives you an opportunity to influence the decision. But to participate as auxiliaries is out of the question. We will participate if certain conditions are met and we will play the role of an objective and responsible opposition if they are not met and will do so without exaggerations, clowning, or embarrassment to anyone.”