Bashir voices unprecedented criticism of Sudan’s ruling party
August 21, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese president Omer al-Bashir voiced unprecedented criticism of the National Congress Party (NCP)’s institutions and described it as weak and absent from the main issues on the political arena.
Speaking in a frank tone about the organizational situation in the party on Friday night, Bashir told the closing session of the NCP Shoura Council that there is a need to pay more attention to the bases of the party in the regions particularly after the results of the general elections last April which showed the weakness of its structures outside Khartoum.
“I fear the NCP meets the same fate as the (Sudanese) Socialist Union (SSU) and ends with the demise of the government,” he said.
The SSU was the ruling party in Sudan from 1971 until 1985, when the regime of President Gaafar Nimeiri was overthrown by a military coup.
The Sudanese president who is also the NCP chairman announced his intention to dispatch secrets inspection teams to the different states to deal with the problems that appeared during April elections and offer realistic solutions.
“The party is very weak at the local level,” he emphasized.
He said that the ruling party is running the country under very complex conditions and it cannot be run by the government alone. He added that the situation requires a mobilized base to apply the required solutions.
Bashir stressed that the elections revealed a severe weakness of the party’s structure at the local level, pointing that observations of many governors and commissioners appointed recently confirmed his point of view.
In October 2014, the NCP general conference decided to forgo the direct election of state governors and instead recommend their appointment by the president of the republic. The decision came as many officials in the party denounced openly the functioning of the party in Darfur region.
In September 2014, in remarks delivered at the party’s convention in South Darfur’s capital Nyala, the then NCP deputy chairman Ibrahim Ghandour denounced the functioning of the ruling party in the state saying “the loyalty of its membership is based on tribal affiliations” which harm the national unity.
Bashir on Friday went further saying that the NCP leadership in Darfur shoulders the responsibility of tribal conflicts in the region.
He further said the party was totally absent from the resolution of these tribal conflicts, and attributed this absence to the lack of the NCP’s impact and presence on the ground.
The president announced that the security authorities plan to inventory and collect arms in Darfur, after the rainy season, noting that weapons and vehicles with four-wheel drive will be exclusively used by the regular forces.
END OF REBELLION
Bashir also repeated his pledges that 2016 will witness the end of rebellion in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.
“There will be no new Naivasha Agreement. Those who come peacefully are welcome , and those who do not come we will reach them in their place,” he said.
Also, he said that the national dialogue initiative does not did not stem from weakness of the regime but aims at gathering the largest number of the sons of Sudan to resolve the issues of homeland.
“The national dialogue is not negotiations, polemics, or claims . Also there is no power or wealth sharing,” he stressed.
Bashir asserted that the security situation in Darfur is improving and that the rebellion in western Sudan is over “except the remnants of rebel groups present in the South Sudanese territory” .
“We are waiting them, if they come again, we will organize them a new Goz Dingo,” he said referring to a South Darfur’s area close to the border with the South Sudan where the government militias defeated the fighters of the Justice and Equality Movement last April.
(ST)