Sudan’s DUP affirms its continued participation in NCP-dominated government

August 5, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) today affirmed that it will continue its participation in the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) government despite persistent strong objections from the party’s base.

The minister for cabinet affairs Ahmed Saad Omer, who is also a leading DUP figure, said that the political partnership between his party and the NCP was founded on clear and well- thought out basis for the good of the country and the citizens.

He also boasted that Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) signed between rebels and Khartoum represent the major fruit of the NCP-DUP partnership saying it has become a basic reference for resolving the crisis in Sudan’s western region.

Omer also blasted the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), a coalition of armed movements, accusing it of targeting of citizens and stability.

But the DUP candidate for the 2010 presidential elections Hatim al-Sir directed harsh criticism at the government saying it reduced the political process to handing out posts without making comprehensive reforms at the helm.

Al-Sir is leading a faction within the DUP that denounces participating in the government and seeks to bring the party back to the ranks of the opposition.

The DUP was given 12% of the government posts on the federal level but state allocation has yet to be made.

Recently it was announced that the DUP chief Mohamed Osman Al-Mirghani met with President Omer Hassan to discuss the DUP share in the widely-anticipated cabinet shuffle.

Last February, DUP supporters ejected the commerce minister Osman Omer Sharif from an event they were holding accusing him of lobbying for joining the government and seeking to appoint his daughter as a minister in Gezira state government.

Al-Mirghani’s DUP joined the government in December 2011, despite reports of internal dissent and against the wishes of Sudan’s other main opposition parties.

(ST)