Al-Mirghani’s son wants apology as condition for reinstating dismissed members
August 22, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The eldest son of the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the de-facto party leader Mohamed al-Hassan al-Mirghani insisted that 17 members he expelled earlier this year need to apologize to the chairman before being allowed back in.
Initially Mohamed al-Hassan dismissed the statement as fabricated and suggested that DUP spokesperson Ibrahim al-Mirghani forged it.
But he came back later to acknowledge its authenticity and told Sudan news agency (SUNA) that an internal DUP committee formed by the party chairman would be looking into the issue and submitting recommendations.
On Saturday however, he told the government-sponsored Sudanese Media Center (SMC) that apologizing to DUP chief will be required of the 17 members before they are reinstated.
Mohamed al-Hassan went on to say that those dismissed from the party has nothing to do with DUP affairs, stressing that they will not be able to resume any partisan activities without authorization from the party and its leader Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani.
He said that the 17 were sacked because of their refusal to participate in April 2015 general elections which he described as a constitutional right granted to citizens and not to the party.
Al-Mirghani’s son, who has not been politically active throughout the DUP history, made an apparent move to fill the void left by his father’s prolonged absence abroad and orchestrated the party’s participation in the elections despite stiff opposition from senior DUP figures.
In what appeared to be a rebellion, dozens of these figures sought to move the courts to nullify the DUP participation in the elections on the grounds that Mohamed al-Hassan has no authority or capacity within the party to be its representative before the National Elections Commission (NEC).
One of those expelled told Sudan Tribune that the political parties’ registrar has not endorsed the expulsion orders so it is not valid.
“We will not apologize, and we are not keen to stay in the party led by al-Hassan .. and the constitution of the party has no clause on apologizing to the chief,” Ali al-Sayed said.
Al-Sayed urged Mohamed al-Hassan to remain silent to avoid embarrassing himself further.
“We feel awkward when we hear his daily remarks…He always errs in his decisions and in his statements; one time he speaks of repenting [by expelled members], then calls upon us to apologize, and a third time he speaks of a special committee…I wish he would shut up until the general convention,” he said.
“It seems that he is in a state of tension and anxiety, and it is clear that his advisers from the journalists and the [ruling] National Congress Party are unable to pin him to a path to maintain,” al-Sayed added.
The DUP figure pointed out that the party lacks institutions, especially since al-Mirghani froze its work and all the decisions are in his hand.
The discord between the house of al-Mirghani and other senior DUP figures has grown more intense in recent years with the latter accusing the former of turning the party into a chapter of the NCP.
The DUP left opposition ranks and joined the “broad-based” government of the NCP in December 2011, citing the “need to save the country” in the words of Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani himself.
The decision of one of Sudan’s biggest opposition parties to join the government has created a great deal of internal dissent that saw many members quitting in protest. The party received three ministries in the federal cabinet and continues to serve under this allocation.
(ST)