Sudan’s opposition party quits power-sharing talks
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October 5, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The opposition Democratic Unionist Party
(DUP) has officially announced the end of its talks with the ruling
National Congress Party (NCP) to join the country’s new government as
rumors began to fly on who gets what in the anticipated cabinet.
JPEG - 12.9 kb
DUP’s leader Mohamed Osman Al-Mirghani
The DUP on Wednesday declared it finally decided not to negotiate with
the NCP on joining the new government, ending months of speculations
on such outcome.
According to [a report by Al-Khaleej newspaper, the DUP said its talks
with the NCP on sharing portfolios had reached a deadlock.
However, the party led by Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani said that the
window for negotiations on other issues remains open.
Sudan’s NCP has been seeking to bring the DUP and the National Umma
Party (NUP) of former Prime Minister Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi to join the new
government formation intended to be announced soon.
The decision of the NUP and DUP to engage in a unilateral dialogue
with the NCP has set them apart from other mainstream opposition
groups, namely the Sudanese Communist Party and the Popular Congress
Party (PCP), both of which continue to reject participation in the
government and call for regime change.
The DUP’s announcement mirrored that of the NUP which, two days ago,
announced it would not participate in the government and resort to
“civil disobedience” as a mean to oppose the NCP.
Observers suggest that the aim of the NCP’s push to accommodate the
two biggest opposition parties is to defuse tension in the domestic
political arena due to worsening economic condition and the
government’s increased crackdown on dissent.
Meanwhile, the NCP has been conducting intensive talks ahead of the
announcement of the new government.
Earlier in August, sources told Sudan Tribune that the new government
of Sudan’s “second republic” – a title being touted by NCP officials
in reference to their rule after the breakup of the country with South
Sudan’s secession – will be composed of 18 cabinet portfolios instead
of the current 33 portfolios.
The imminent announcement of the new government has given rise to
rumors saying that the presidential adviser Ghazi Salah al-Din will be
appointed as a minister of foreign affairs.
Rumors also have it that the NCP’s powerful figure Awad Ahmad Al-Jaz
would be re-appointed as a minister of energy – a position he left in
2008 - while the current agriculture minister Abdul Halim al-Mut’afi,
who was recently embroiled in controversy arising from imports of
contaminated seeds, will assume the position of a finance minister.
(ST)
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