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LiveJournal Tags: Sudan , NCP , South , Darfur , BlueNile , East , Kordofan

People & Power - Sudan: War and independence

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The Fate of the North

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LiveJournal Tags: Sudan , NCP , Turabi , Bashir , KSA , Sufism , Salafi , Salafism most people are paying attention to the birth of the world newest state, South Sudan . While Southern know exactly who they are but we in the north still trying figuring this out! In recent years specially after the famous divide of the Islamic Front between Bashir and Turabi , The NCP sought support in radical Islamic group to confront the spiritual leader Mr. Turabi. The problem will be the rest of the Sudanese people in the north. Do they support such Salafism ? I do not think so. Sudan for long time was dominated buy Sufism which is a very peaceful in nature, more inclusive rather than exclusive. Salafism was brought mainly buy Sudanese expat who worked and lived in KSA and the gulf. The Niqab is a stranger to Sudanese custom and tradition. The NCP is in very critical situation. loss of hard currency income will lead to spending cuts and tax increases to maintain its Military spending. The n...

The Poor Kids in Sudan

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it is quite sad the situation of children in my country Sudan! i found this airplaine toy which state clearly "UN air force". UN involvement has become a part of childhood in Sudan. when I was a kid, these toys usually would hold lables such as "US airforce" or other kids shows name on it (after all all the toys come from the west). I hope things would not get worse

Sudan & Rami Khouri !!!!

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Technorati Tags: abyei , africa , civil war , darfur , independence , khartoum , ncp , splm , south sudan , southern sudan , sudan A recent article regarding Sudan referendum by Rami Khouri showed how little knowledge the Arab elite knows about Sudan. I have to be honest and declare that  i have not read the whole article. This is remarkable because it may be the only explicit and credible case of Arab people exercising the opportunity to define their country’s shape and its ideological orientation. It is after this part when I stopped reading, it was clear to me that the author has no clue about Sudan. First of all, the people who are going to decide if they want to remain within Sudan or have their own country are not Arab! the majority of them are of African ethnicity which played a big role in the north-south civil war and the war in Darfur now. I agree with him in regard to the idea that none of the Arab states chosen their boarders, it was made by France and ...

Sudan Post referendum part two

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one of the important issue need to be sorted before the independence of the south ( which is just a mater of time) is the fate of southern in the north mainly in Khartoum . during the civil war many southern were forced by the war to move to the north. they live in displaced camps scattered around the capital. the last censes estimate their population to be around 500,000 but many observers regard this figure as underestimation and they estimate their population to reach around 2 to millions at least. Sadly, in the last few days couple of statements came from NCP members including members in government, painted a dark picture for the fate of southern in the north. for example they would become foreigner instantly if the southern voted for independence. Recent roamers from khartoum is that southern in the north are apply for nationality and sudanese passport while in the same time there is instructions in the ministry of home affairs to delay the process if not to prevent it. ...

Sudan Post referendum part one!

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  The question is not whether south Sudan is going for independence or not, the question is what is going to happen after the month of January next year! everyone seems to be expecting the worse! the UN is already preparing for crisis when the south chooses independence. The international crisis group has predicted that the boarder between the two nation is going to be a cause of tension specially when it come to people movement between the two sides. I will focus on what i would expect to happen in the north mainly. There are very strange phenomena that is happening in the north, first the NCP suddenly woke up to the possibility of independent south Sudan! and it is trying to insure southern vote for unity in the coming four months, let us not forget the party had almost whole five years to do so and only now it start to take action against northern who raise their demand for the separation of south Sudan(alintibaha news paper). the second thing worth mention is some out o...

The Day after the elections

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Sudan current situation is really a mess, at the time when everyone was hoping the elections may be the magic key which lift the country from its deep problems and lead the way to a new era of peace and prosperity, instead the election in it self become a problem and an obstacle to stabilisation. It seems the NCP is heading for a landslide victory in northern states where Bashir somehow managed to get all the votes, and SPLM is taking over south Sudan. The reaction to the election process ranged from pure fraud as described by opposition including SPLM, to below international standards as described by international bodies, or completely fair and just as the NCP states. So far there is no results yet, the National Election Committee still waiting for the numbers to be submitted from south Sudan. Bashir and NCP will win in North, SPLM take over south Sudan, and the opposition now is out of the game. The coming few months will be crucial for Sudan stability. In the coming few posts I wi...

The Joke of Sudan!

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The moves by SPLM did not leave any room for ordinary people in the north of Sudan but to perceive SPLM as true partner for NCP in weakening northern parties. After all NCP does not give a dam about south Sudan separation and this is the only one thing that SPLM think of. NCP will tolerate losing oil resources in exchange of full control of the north and normal relations with the USA. Related articles by Zemanta Sudan: Lesser of two evils | Editorial (guardian.co.uk) Sudan presidential candidate urges boycott (cnn.com) US envoy holds Sudan crisis talks (news.bbc.co.uk) SPLM sold out opposition (ymw3.blogspot.com)

Sudan Elections!

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The last couple of weeks were very exciting in Sudan now that the elections are just around the corner. The main headlines in Sudan are about parties nominations for the presidential elections. The National Congress Party candidate was well known for everyone from the beginning! The surprise is when Omer Albasher had to resign from heading the Military, which personally I did not expect him to comply with changes implied by the election committee. This puts Silva in a corner, as he would not leave the SPLM Army at any circumstances specially with the current tribal conflict in the South. This could be the reason why SPLM put forward Yassir Arman as its candidate for the presidential elections. This means SPLM still interested in politics of the north and not only south Sudan. by choosing Arman(Arab northern) it applies to most of the base in the north and the south at the same time. It is better not to have an Arab Muslim Candidate(Bashir) vs Southern Christian Candidate(Silva) wh...

Fifth Column!

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  The Situation in Sudan is becoming, with everyday pass towards the elections more complex . It seems the National Congress Party (NCP) made some changes to the agreement it had with SPLM regarding referendum for Southern Sudan independence and Abyei area. When the bill presented to parliament it was different to what SPLM agreed to, SPLM claims. This led to SPLM to withdraw its MPs from parliament till further notice. The main disputed issue is “Who has the right to vote?”. The SPLM demand, only those who live in Southern Sudan have the right to vote, while NCP want this right to include Southern Sudanese in the north too. In my opinion this is a very important issue which should not taken lightly. Most observers agree that Sudan will not stay a one country and the Southern are more likely to vote for independence. There are certain issues which North and South should need to discuss for a smooth independence to take place without any civil violence or disturbance. Issues l...

The Deal is Clear!!!

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Today, The National Congress Party (NCP) in Sudan  managed to pass National security bill in the parliament. It was a mechanical vote, because the 2005 agreement gave NCP majority in Parliament by which it managed to pass this law today. The SPLM MPs did not boycott the session but they voted against the bill, while  MPs for Northern opposition parties walk out of the session. The main issue in the bill that generating a lot of concerns among many Sudanese is the right of security forces to arrest individuals and keep them in custody for a maximum period of four months. This obliviously contradict 2005 peace agreement which stated that the Security forces task is to gather intelligence and provide them to authorities. This seems to be the deal which NCP and SPLM agreed upon recently after demonstrations. The NCP offered SPLM to agree for  its demand regarding referendum bill while SPLM does not boycott the National Security Bill so it would have some sort of legitimac...

Another Monday, another demonstration

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It seems the situation in Khartoum is not going to calm down any time soon. Today the opposition collation went down to the streets, again, to protest against the delay in passing legislations related to next national election coming up this April. BBC Arabic service radio interviewed Mariam Al Sadiq, The daughter of Umma party leader, who was arrested by government security forces. She stated that all paper work required for the demonstration was made. according to her, the law only require organizers to alert official of demonstration but not to wait for their approval. she even quoted a section  of the constitution to prove her point. Around 38 people were arrested today according to Sudanile.com Pagan Amom( SPLM ) confirmed his party participation in today’s demonstration, despite an agreement reached with National Congress Party (NCP) yesterday! While the stand of the opposition parties is clear, the position of SPLM kind of strange. It is a part of the unity government,...

SPLM sold out opposition

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Today’s agreement between northern National Congress Party (NCP) and SPLM was a surprised to me. Not the fact they reached an agreement but what they did agree on. SPLM seems to care more about independence of southern Sudan than the democracy reforms.  Mr. Pagan Amom (SPLM) told BBC Arabic service today that both parities have agreed on referendum law, Abyei , and consultation law. Legislation regarding security forces is going to discussed through a special committee by the two parties. It is clear that SPLM is not interested in National election taking place this April as long as legislations related to southern Sudan referendum are approved by the parliament. SPLM has used northern opposition parties to press NCP into giving them what they want in exchange of lower down the demand for laws reforms which will create the require environment for  free and fair election. SPLM main supporter are in south Sudan which make sense when it make the previous mentioned laws a pr...

South Sudan Democracy

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An Interesting report by CNN from South Sudan abut the coming election. I wished to see more reaction from the people towards the elections, as many people there do not only know what democracy is. Its impact on the SPLM is going to be sever, so far SPLM enjoys a no opposition in south Sudan. The NCP is trying to create opposition but so far no real success. I hope when it come to election there will be reasonable options for southern Sudanese to choose from.

The Election

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The current situation in Khartoum and Sudan in general does not look good. The rising tension between the ruling party and its partner is endangering the whole future of the country, north and south. It is beyond doubt the government is not going to allow for free, fair, and transparent election. All the legislations related to freedom of speech and press have not been passed yet by the Parliament, where the ruling party maintains a majority.   If things continue in its current course most likely opposition parties will boycott the coming election. The referendum will not take place and most likely the SPLM will retreat back to its base in the South gearing up for declaration of independence from rest of the country. Khartoum will go into unrest with everyday demonstrations and people go out to the streets, the government as usual will respond to demonstration by force. Putting in mind that there many groups in Khartoum carry weapons thing will get u...