Umma party says NISS demand for dissolution of party “unconstitutional”
January 14, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The National Umma Party (NUP) said it is preparing a formal response to a filing made by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) with the registrar of political parties calling for dissolution of the opposition party.
Burma told Sudan Tribune that this move by NISS is a “violation of the constitution and a bypass of democracy”.
The security apparatus based its request on NUP chairman al-Sadiq al-Mahdi being a signatory to the ‘Paris Declaration’ and ‘Sudan Call’ accords with rebel groups stressing that it calls for dismantling the one-party state and mobilizing all forces “to change the existing constitutional order in the country which carries a military aspect”.
The NISS said in its complaint that alliance with rebels violates Sudan interim constitution of 2005 and Political Parties Act of 2007.
It further said that these accords should be regarded as direct moral support that adopts the approach of military action carried out by rebel bearing arms against the existing constitutional system contrary to the obligations imposed on it by the Constitution and the law on the peaceful transfer of power through elections .
“[S]upporting them [rebels] from the NUP is inconsistent with the provisions of the constitution and the law,” reads the NISS filing seen by Sudan Tribune
“Based on the aforementioned, we ask your esteemed council to exercise and effect your authority contained in articles 10, 13, 14, and 19 of the Political Parties Act,” it adds.
The articles referenced by NISS states that a political party would be deprived from contesting in elections or have its activities frozen or be dissolved through an order of the Constitutional Court based on a lawsuit filed by a two-third majority of Council of Political Parties.
Last December, Sudanese political and armed opposition forces and civil society organizations signed the “Sudan Call” agreement in Addis Ababa which calls for ending the war, dismantling the one-party state, achieving a comprehensive peace and democratic transition in the country.
This was preceded by the signing of the “Paris Declaration” last August between the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) and the NUP which calls for a comprehensive solution involving all the political forces including rebel groups. It further stresses on the need to create a conducive environment in order to hold a genuine national dialogue.
Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir described the signatories as agents, traitors and mercenaries who sealed these deals with sponsorship of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Israeli intelligence service (Mossad).
Bashir also vowed to try al-Mahdi, who has been based in Cairo since the accords, once he returns to Sudan for his alliance with SRF unless he disavows these agreements.
But al-Mahdi rejected these conditions and demanded an apology for Bashir’s accusations.
(ST)