Leading figure from Sudan’s ruling NCP joins splinter faction

February 11, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The former deputy governor of North Kordofan state, Mohamed Bashir Suleiman, has announced his defection from the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) saying he has officially joined the newly established Reform Now Party (RNP) led by Ghazi Salah al-Deen al-Attabani.

Attabani and several leading figures split from the NCP in late 2013 over calls for reforms, transparency and democratic changes, which led to disciplinary actions taken against them, including expulsion. They later established the RNP saying it would “bring new hope to Sudan”.

Suleiman fiercely lambasted the conditions in North Kordofan and expressed his sorrow over the absence of government institutions in the state. He claimed that both the state’s legislative council and council of ministers have failed to convene.

He went on to say that the federal government ignores development needs of the state, denying at the same time that his decision to leave the NCP was driven by personal reasons.

Suleiman stressed at a press conference on Wednesday that the number of political parties’ members who will join the RNP exceeds that of those who are coming from the NCP.

“I am not the only NCP member in North Kordofan state who joined the RNP, and soon you will see large numbers following suit”, he said.

The RNP co-founder, Hassan Osman Rizg, disclosed that several unnamed NCP prominent figures have secretly joined their newborn party and projected that more NCP members would follow suit in the coming days.

Suleiman further pointed that the NCP is capable of solving Sudan’s problems had it genuinely cooperated with the opposition, asserting that the ruling party practices represented by the lack of transparency and distribution of wealth threatens the security of the nation.

He described the newly formed cabinet as nothing but a reflection of personal relations, saying he was sidelined by the ex-governor of North Kordofan, Mutasim Zaki Al-Din, and the current governor, Ahmed Haroun, when he was a deputy-governor.

Suleiman further disclosed that Haroun imposed extra fees on fuel and the national number identification card unlawfully, accusing the NCP and the opposition Popular Congress Party (PCP) of causing the current political crisis because of their struggle over power.

The PCP split from the NCP following 1999’s bitter power struggle between Bashir and Turabi, with the latter was ousted from his post as parliamentary speaker and the leadership of the ruling party alike.

Turabi later established the PCP and has since been a vociferous critic of the very regime whose army-backed seizure of power in 1989 he orchestrated.

(ST)