Sudan’s opposition unveils text of “Democratic Alternative Charter”
September 24, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese opposition forces released on Monday the full text of the Democratic Alternative Charter (DAC) which details the means they intend to adopt in their struggle to topple the regime as well as their vision on how to run the country.
The signing of the DAC took place in the midst of street protests against the government over worsening economic conditions before the small uprising petered out with the onset of the holy month of Ramadan.
In a press conference held in the capital Khartoum, NCF’s Chairman Farouq Abu Issa revealed the full text of the DAC which, as seen by Sudan Tribune, talks of using all “means of political, popular and peaceful means” to topple the regime and establish a transitional system to be governed by a “Constitutional Declaration” document that the opposition is working to draft.
Abu Issa said that they will venture to distribute the two documents to the public in order to conduct further consultations despite what he described as the continuous repression on the part of the government against opposition activities.
The DAC-proposed transitional system involves the establishment of a parliament, a presidential council of six members representing six regions after restructuring the current federal system and an executive government of 20 ministers.
It also talks about recognizing the demands of armed forces in the country’s peripheral regions for development and equal distribution of power and wealth.
Abu Issa reiterated accusations that the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) is seeking to draft a permanent constitution to supersede the country’s current interim constitution without the participation of opposition groups.
NCF forces already rejected an invitation last week from president Omer Al-Bashir to participate in a meeting to discuss the constitution, accusing the NCP of seeking to draft a constitution sustaining its grip on power.
According to Abu Issa, the NCP already created a drafted constitution a year ago and was merely seeking to impose it.
“We know that a draft constitution had already been prepared a year ago and we also know where it was done” the opposition figure claimed.
Addressing the same conference, NCF’s secretary of media and mobilization Maryam Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi announced that the opposition will not ignore armed groups in the country’s peripheries and will include them in the discussions about the two documents.
She added that toppling the regime is a must in order to extricate the country from the current state of loss and stop what she phrased as the “bleeding of immigration”, citing statistics she said they indicated that thousands of Sudanese people are leaving the country in search of a decent life.
(ST)