Sudanese president extends DRA’s term for one year
June 28, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir Sunday has issued a presidential decree extending the term of the Darfur Regional Authority (DRA) for one year effective 15 July, 2015.
According to the DDPD, the powers of the DRA don’t contradict with the exclusive powers of the federal and states governments. The DRA is basically responsible for monitoring development projects and maintaining security and stability besides holding a referendum to determine the administrative status of Darfur.
In a press conference on Sunday, the head of Darfur peace implementation follow-up office Amin Hassan Omer said the presidential decree was issued following consultations with the DDPD signatories in order to allow the DRA complete the tasks assigned to it under the agreement.
He said the decree provided for signing separate protocols with the signatories of the DDPD including the National Liberation Justice Party (NLJP), the Liberation and Justice Party (LJP) and the two factions of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in prelude for participating in the legislative and executive powers.
Last March the LJM which is formed by 19 rebel factions, split into two political parties following deep differences between its chairman Tijani al-Sissi and the group’s secretary general Bahar Idris Abu Garada. The two parties participated in April’s general elections at the national constituencies’ level.
Omer stressed that the international follow-up committee for the DDPD implementation will be informed of the decree.
He reiterated the government refusal to negotiate with the rebel groups outside the Doha framework agreement. Further, he emphasized that talks would only take place in the Qatari capital not elsewhere.
On Friday, The Sudanese foreign ministry said that the DDPD is wholly dedicated to the western Sudan region and should not be mixed with parallel efforts to achieve end armed conflict in other areas.
Omer pointed that the government participated earlier in the talks which were held in Addis Ababa under the auspices of the African Union in order to discuss a ceasefire, saying it is possible to take part in the negotiations again.
UNAMID EXIT STRATEGY
Commenting on the decision of the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) to extend for an additional period of 12 months the mandate of the African Union United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), Omer said that nobody expects the mission could withdraw before one year but mentioned agreement on gradual withdrawal from the secure areas.
The government official underscored that attempts by the US and the UK at the UN Security Council (UNSC) to maintain the de facto situation wouldn’t succeed, saying that several nations don’t want the peacekeeping missions across the world to turn into political missions and to waste significant resources.
A polemic erupted earlier this month between Sudan and the United Nations when the UN secretary-general assistant for peacekeeping operations Edmond Mulet presented a gloomy picture of the security situation in Darfur saying attacks by government forces displaced 78,000 people this year and cited unverified reports about additional 130,000 IDPs in Jebel Marra.
Khartoum, which speaks about the improvement of security conditions after defeating rebel groups, refuted the report. Further, it accused the UN officials of being manipulated by some UN members and providing erroneous data to the UNSC in order to ensure the continuation of the UNAMID and obstruct the work of the tripartite mechanism on the exit strategy.
The United Nations Security Council is expected to meet on 29 June to discuss and endorse the renewal of the hybrid operation for one year. The UNAMID mandate expires on 30 June.
DRA DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
Meanwhile, the DRA information minister, Abdel-Karim Musa, denied reports about financial corruption in the projects carried out by the DRA, stressing that funds are being allocated according to federal laws and procedures and that money is not directly deposited to the DRA doesn’t accounts.
He praised the ministry of finance for providing 900 million pounds (SDG) for the DRA’s 2015 budget to carry out 400 projects in Darfur as well as approving 1,700 million pounds for the years 2016 and 2017 to complete the rest of the matrix of the projects.
Musa said that extending the term of the DRA was meant for serving the interests of the people of Darfur, pointing to the various items for implementing the matrix of the projects according to the DDPD including the financial support item which comes from the Sudanese government besides the Qatari and the donors’ role.
He said that the ministry of finance provided 800 million pounds last year, noting that several developments projects have been implemented despite the government’s financial hardships.
The DRA official further pointed out that development which has been achieved in Darfur within the framework of the DDPD didn’t take place since Sudan’s independence.
(ST)