The
Secretary General of the armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation
Movement-North (SPLM-N), Yasir Arman, has clarified that recent political
events in the country led his group to reconsider the framework agreement it
negotiated with Khartoum
last June and adopt regime-change agendas.
Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the armed
opposition SPLM-N inked on 28 June a framework agreement brokered by the former
South African president Thabo Mbeki to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the
armed conflict which started on 5 June between the two parties in South Kordofan
State.
The deal, which was signed in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, also established a political partnership between
the two parties to address the outstanding issues in the implementation of the
2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, particularly the popular consultation vote
and integration of SPLM-N forces into Sudan’s army (SAF).
However, President Omer Hassan al-Bashir rejected the
deal some days after. He also emphasised that talks can only continue between
the two parties inside the country and without an external mediator.
The SPLM-N at the time reacted vigorously to the
presidential position and it reiterated no talks with the Sudanese government
without Addis Ababa
framework agreement.
"We in the SPLM-N are now beyond the framework
agreement", Arman told Sudan Tribune in Paris where he held meetings with officials
from the French government and political parties. He stressed that there are
new developments since last June that led them to reassess their position.
These developments, according to Arman, are
represented in the facts that the NCP government had slapped a ban on the
SPLM-N’s activities, arrested thousands of its members, and removed its
chairman Malik Agar from his position as governor of Blue Nile State following
the eruption of clashes there between the two parties on 1 September.
Arman further pointed out the large-scale violations
of human rights committed in the country, particularly in the two war-hit
states.
"Now we want a solution for all the problems of Sudan, which is
regime change", he said.
The SPLM-N Secretary General underlined that this
"holistic approach" would also bring about an end to the eight year
war in the western region of Darfur as well as normalisation of relations with
the newly independent state of South Sudan.
Furthermore, he stressed that the end of this regime would lead to ending the
economic crisis caused by the corruption of its officials, civil wars, and the
economic sanctions imposed on the country.
Asked about how the SPLM-N and its allies intend to
deal with the traditional political forces which, despite their opposition to
the regime, refuse to hold arms against the government, Arman said they believe
that all the Sudanese forces can contribute to overthrowing Al-Bashir’s
government.
He also pointed out that before the collapse of the
regime, there should be a broad coalition between the political and social
forces such as the trade unions. He said such an alliance could be established
on the basis of a political platform for the entire country.
After the fall of the NCP, Arman said a
constitutional conference should be organised with the participation of all the
political forces in order to lay down the basis for a new democratic system in Sudan.
The SPLM-N and Darfur rebel movements, mainly two
factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur and
Minni Minnawi, in August forged a political and military alliance in the
SPLM-N’s stronghold of Kaoda in South Kordofan to coordinate efforts in order
to overthrow Al-Bashir’s government and establish a secular state where
religion and politics are clearly separated.
The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), which is
part of the alliance, did not endorse the issue of a secular state and called
for a citizenship state where the role of religion can be maintained in
different areas related to the personal sphere like the personal status law.
Asked about how to reconcile such different political
viewpoints in this large alliance which might also include the Popular Congress
Party (PCP) of Hassan Al-Turabi, which also calls for an Islamic state, Arman
said the most important is to agree on a political agenda and a constitutional
framework for Sudan.
"Insisting on the secular state or the
citizenship should not hinder the establishment of a democratic state in Sudan with a
clear vision for a diverse and plural nation," he said.
He pointed out that the National Umma Party of former
Prime Minister Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of
Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani – the biggest opposition parties – also indicated
favouring of the citizenship state.
"And this does not mean they [NUP and DUP]
support the idea of a totalitarian regime", he pointed out.
The Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zinawi is
undertaking a difficult mediation between the government and the SPLM-N; but
the positions of the two parties continue to shift according to political and
military factors.
Arman is undertaking an international tour to explain
the positions of the SPLM-N which is fighting against the government troops in
the Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan.
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