Confrontation looms over cabinet reshuffle between SPLM and Sudan ruling party

By Wasil Ali

October 15, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan’s ruling party is poised for a clash with its Southern partner in the government over the list of nominees for cabinet ministers.


Mansour Khalid

The ex-rebel group Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) yesterday submitted a list of new ministers to the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) for endorsement. The NCP has been stalling on approving the list of nominees for the last few months.

Last Thursday the SPLM decided to suspend their participation in the national unity government because of what they describe as the NCP’s failure to fully implement crucial elements of the CPA.

The latest move by the SPLM raised concern that the Comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) that ended two decades of civil war between the Arab and Muslim-dominated north and the mainly Christian and animist black southerners may unravel.

A senior SPLM official who spoke to Sudan Tribune last week on condition of anonymity said that the Sudanese president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir has refused to remove foreign minister Lam Akol as part of the proposed cabinet reshuffle.

The daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper published in London quoted unidentified NCP officials as saying that Al-Bashir is not prepared to accept Dr. Mansour Khalid, the SPLM nominee, to replace Akol as foreign minister under any circumstances.

The veteran diplomat Khalid is the former foreign minister and currently an adviser at Sudanese presidency. As a foreign minister during former President Jaafar Nimeri, Khalid negotiated the first peace agreement that ended the North-South civil war in 1972.

Khalid was one of the earliest and most prominent Northern Sudanese to join SPLM in the early eighties. He was one of the closest confidents to the late SPLM leader Dr. John Garang who was killed in an air crash.

NCP officials said the party is wary of Khalid’s close relations with US officials and his pro-American attitude. They added that these are unfavorable characteristics of a foreign minister who needs to be “objective and unbiased”.

Khalid has built strong relationships with US officials during his tenure as a permanent representative of Sudan at the UN. He is a close friend of former US president George W. Bush. sr.

The NCP officials stressed that the SPLM insistence on nominating Khalid “will only complicate matters and create deadlock in any meetings held between the two sides”.

Last week the governor of Blue Nile State Malik Agar who is also a member of SPLM said that the list of nominees submitted is final and as such they “will not accept any discussions about it”.

They ruling party also accused the former Special Envoy on Sudan for the State Department Roger Winter, who is believed to be in the capital of Southern Sudan for the last week, of masterminding the escalation between the SPLM and NCP.

A state department official was not available for comment on these allegations.

The 2005 peace agreement brokered by the US and other western countries ended two decades of civil war between the Arab and Muslim-dominated north and the mainly Christian and animist black southerners.

(ST)

4 Forum messages

Confrontation looms over cabinet reshuffle between SPLM and Sudan ruling party 16 October 2007 14:57, by Gatluak Latjor

The NCP should stop it childish behavior by always wanting to be the only one who select the runers of the key posts in the Government of National Unity (GONU). She in present resufle wants someone who please her in the foreign ministry;someone to run her bad policies of destorying sudan. However,What is important is that the world is not NPC ’s world and that the post belongs to the SPLM.The present chance belongs to Sir Mansour Khalid who standed persistently for democratic changes in Sudan. In my view the SPLM should stop this Greedy party from badly runing our beloved sudan. It is destorying it already.

Gatluak Latjor.

Confrontation looms over cabinet reshuffle between SPLM and Sudan ruling party 16 October 2007 19:59, by Garang Ayang Kuoi

I think that the Khartoum government should start taking the Southern leaders as independent thinkers, and stop accusing foreign officials of having hands in Sudanese crisis. The SPLM I belief had made a decision based on Southern preasure, because the public wants both parties to act and implement the entire CPA, so that we would focus on development and building peace among our people. On the other hand, I think the President is dead wrong by trusting the SPLM enemies morethan those loyal to the its goals and objectives, because this is where South Sudanese people start thinking that this process of chaos in between who they like and not like in NCP will never work, and it will always increase the tention between the two parties. That is why Mr. president should start being considerate of SPLM, because the SPLM is not just a boys party, it is a party headed by its leaders and people who mean their business. Without considerations, the things become more complex and then we outcry, when in fact it is always Abashir’s failure to bring the parties togather. You see politic is all about tit for tat, whereby you get and give, things gets messed up in politics when one side always expect to get and never give. The SPLM decision to replace Lam Akol with Dr. Khalid is a brilliant choice, because Dr. Khalid is a nationalist, not a traitor like Lam who has always been interested in getting materials and not to serve the people of Sudan, not even the South because we can find our way and survive withut his types.

Confrontation looms over cabinet reshuffle between SPLM and Sudan ruling party 16 October 2007 19:44, by Bob Tata

We are all happy to see a government of national unity run by a southerner! It doesn’t matter who run it! Whether the person is a SPLA/M loyalist or that of any south Sudanese party other than SPLA! But the biggest question to be asked is where SPLA/M fits in the political arena of south Sudan! Bear in mind that SPLA/M agenda is completely contradictive to that of other true south Sudanese movements(refer to the definition of SPLA/M) Another simple question will be is SPLA/M the only political party in south Sudan that has to decide the fate of whole south? What is GoSS actually? Is the abbreviation GoSS synonymous to SPLA/M or it is simply a government of south Sudan formed by all different south Sudanese parties including that of Dr Akol? And if so, why is it hard for the SPLA/M loyalists to reckon that different gorillas’ movements had participated in the war of liberation for south Sudan! And thus have a constitutional right to fully share the power with SPLA/M so, why is it hard for the SPLA/M supporters to accept that all the parties involved in the gorilla war should have an equal opportunity for power sharing with SPLA/M! Given to the fact that no is victorious and all are brought to power simply through arrangement or the so-called CPA! So, what I am trying to say here is that SPLA/M shouldn’t be given such an exclusive right to corrupt south Sudan resources and abuse the power as they wish! Even their naïve resignation from the GoNU as a disparagement with the President Basheir’s refusing position of foreign ministry reshuffling is supposed to be agreed by all the parties involved in the running of GoSS with SPLM! It is quite deceptive when hearing SPLA/M complaining about the marginalisation of people of south Sudan by NCP while they are doing the same to other political parties in the GoSS! SPLA/M have to practise what they lecture or preach!

By Bol Thourmuck of Greater Nuer(Greater Nasir)

Confrontation looms over cabinet reshuffle between SPLM and Sudan ruling party 16 October 2007 19:54, by Bob Tata

Correction!!

We are all happy to see a government of national unity run by a southerner! It doesn’t matter who run it! Whether the person is a SPLA/M loyalist or that of any south Sudanese party other than SPLA! But the biggest question to be asked is where SPLA/M fits in the political arena of south Sudan! Bear in mind that SPLA/M agenda is completely contradictive to that of other true south Sudanese movements(refer to the definition of SPLA/M) Another simple question will be is SPLA/M the only political party in south Sudan that has to decide the fate of whole south? What is GoSS actually? Is the abbreviation GoSS synonymous to SPLA/M or it is simply a government of south Sudan formed by all different south Sudanese parties including that of Dr Akol? And if so, why is it hard for the SPLA/M loyalists to reckon that different gorillas’ movements had participated in the war of liberation for south Sudan! And thus have a constitutional right to fully share the power with SPLA/M so, why is it hard for the SPLA/M supporters to accept that all the parties involved in the gorilla war should have an equal opportunity for power sharing with SPLA/M! Given to the fact that no ONE is victorious and all are brought to power simply through arrangement or the so-called CPA! So, what I am trying to say here is that SPLA/M shouldn’t be given such an exclusive right to corrupt south Sudan resources and abuse the power as they wish! Even their naïve resignation from the GoNU as a disparagement with the President Basheir’s refusing position of foreign ministry reshuffling is supposed to be agreed by all the parties involved in the running of GoSS with SPLM! It is quite deceptive when hearing SPLA/M complaining about the marginalisation of people of south Sudan by NCP while they are doing the same to other political parties in the GoSS! SPLA/M have to practise what they lecture or preach! By Bol Thourmuck of Greater Nuer(Greater Nasir)