Another Darfur group threatens to pull out of Sudanese government
August 5, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – The National Justice and Equality Party (NJEP), a former rebel faction turned political party, said its participation in the Government of National Consensus (GNC) is at stake accusing Khartoum of failing to honour the peace deal.
The NJEP, a signatory of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD), has split from the former rebel Justice and Equality Movement faction led by Bakhit Abdallah Dabago (JEM-Dabago) in 2016.
A myriad of Darfur rebel factions has joined the government through different peace agreements. In accordance with the power sharing protocols all, got ministerial positions during the transitional periods fixed by the signed deals.
The political advisor to NJEP’s chairman Abdallah Mohamed Younis said they would suspend participation in the GNC if the government didn’t review their party’s share.
He told Sudan Tribune that the NJEP has met its commitments regarding the DDPD, saying their partnership with the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) has become “a dead letter”.
The NJEP official said their current share in the GNC includes two seats at the National Legislature, demanding to increase their share to include “one federal minister, two regional ministers and three commissioners”.
Younis revealed they would complain to President Omer al-Bashir, saying they submitted letters to the First Vice-President Bakri Hassan Salih and the NCP deputy chairman Ibrahim Mahmoud two months ago but didn’t receive any response.
He accused the Darfur peace follow-up office of being the major obstacle to the implementation of the DDPD, saying it doesn’t consider them as peace partners.
Commenting on the implementation of the security arrangements protocol, Younis said 1330 NJEP fighters haven’t been integrated into the Sudanese army, pointing the fate of Darfur’s peace is unknown due to the government intransigence.
Last June, the JEM-Dabago also complained about its share in the GNC, threatening to pull out of the Sudanese government.
It warned that a number of DDPD signatories would rejoin the rebellion if the government continued to ignore their demands.
Also, a leading member from the JEM-Dabago, Salah Al-Wali has defected from the group and joined the newly formed rebel group Sudan Liberation Force Alliance (SLFA), accusing the government of reneging on the peace agreement.
Qatar brokered the Darfur peace negotiations which resulted in the signing of the DDPD by the Sudanese government and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) in July 2011. However, the historical rebel groups didn’t join the deal.
(ST)