• Before inviting political forces to participate in the constitution debate, ground must be set


• If this government thinks correctly, it will realize that its interest lies in the presence of a strong opposition

 

Khartoum, (sudanow.info.sd ) - The Stances of political forces in the country, either government or opposition, have varied towards participation in the formulation of Sudan’s new constitution that will replace the 2005 Interim Constitution. These stances have kept on swaying between acceptance and rejection, amid challenges facing the Sudan at home and abroad.

sudanow.info.sd interviewed Ustaz Al-Tigani Mustafa, Secretary General of the opposition Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party- Sudan offshoot, and reviewed the party’s stances in political, legal and constitutional developments.

Below, Sudanow publishes experts of the interview;

sudanow.info.sd: You have reservations over the invitation to participate in the constitution. Do these reservations have to do with the content or what?

Answer: Constitutions should be agreed on by the majority of a certain community or people where all components of the community, whether political, civil society or social organizations should be actively involved. The circumstances in which the constitution is formulated should also be conducive so that it would meet the ambitions and aspirations of the people. If we look at Sudan’s current circumstances, we will find that the previously mentioned requirements are not met. The country is facing many challenges, top of which the armed conflicts in as many of its regions which means participation of these conflict areas in the constitution, would be weak and thus they will not be able to express their viewpoints in the constitution. Additionally, we are also suffering from lack of freedoms, sin-qua-non for the people to express their true view in the constitution particularly that the constitution is a consensus among the community components on how to consolidate the basic principles to run the State or the civil community. This cannot be attained unless freedoms are fully guaranteed for the individuals to liberally and democratically express their view about the principles which are to be included in the constitution. In our view, we believe the circumstances are not yet propice now to formulate the constitution, whether a permanent constitution or not.

sudanow.info.sd: But the government has invited the political forces to participate, which affirms the principle of availing the opportunity for free expression of opinion and views?

Answer: “Before inviting political forces to participate in the constitution, ground for accepting this invitation should have been prepared. Any organization or political party, which rejected or apologized to participate, was because of the considerations, which I have previously mentioned. This is because they felt that their participation would not be genuine and would not lead to a constitution that is accepted by the community. Therefore, to reach an acceptable constitution, the climate should be conducive as there are many details, and the constitution is not a priority.

sudanow.info.sd: (interruption) but how is that?

Answer: “There are issues at the regional level with South Sudan and at the international level with the international community. There are also the internal issues with one another.”

sudanow.info.sd: Then what is the way out?

Answer: The way out, and the current new proposal generally, is that Sudan is passing through an exceptional circumstance and is facing complicated challenge; therefore we demand the resolution of these issues through preparing the climate to involve all parties in finding such solutions. The ruling party and the others must be ready to make concessions because in our view the situation cannot stand any further delay as the issue at stake now is that of our homeland, it is not just a matter of conflicting parties. We have to make the required concessions so that everybody would contribute to resolving these issues which I believe are not unsolvable if there is political will to address their root-causes. People can then reach settlements whether regarding South Sudan or the standing conflicts. However, priority must be given to halting blood-shedding and there has to be a cessation of all confrontations. Every conflict is resolvable through dialogue. All conflicts end by objective dialogue leading to their resolution.

 

sudanow.info.sd: Prospects of the opposition varied between the invitation for political reconciliation and convocation of a constitutional conference. What does your party support?

Answer: “We, as a party, are inclined to support the proposal of the constitutional conference, because such a conference will provide enough room to involve all the political forces, civil society, native administration and others forces to express their viewpoints and present their experience regarding the solution of the conflict. Ultimately, we will come out with a consensus based on the opinions of the majority of the participating components…

sudanow.info.sd: (interruption) Do you see the armed movements also participating in this conference?

Answer: “All element in Sudan, because that way people will reach a comprehensive national prospect for the resolution of Sudan’s challenges, particularly if we take into consideration that the country’ standing issues are not new or made by the present day government. They have been accumulating since the independence. It can be said that we have failed, since then, to find an appropriate form of government that will assimilate all the components of the society. We have also failed to achieve stability in the country. We have further failed to achieve equitable development, a balance between the center and the regions. These issues need to be resolved, the solution is available, if all, and everybody is involved in finding the proper form of government, justice and development.

In short, Sudan’s stability can be achieved via the realization of equitable distribution of power and wealth. Today we are suffering from the centralized State and negligence of areas of production whether agricultural or animal resources. Consequently, there became an accumulative feeling of lack of justice. Additionally, we have not treated the components of the society equally, which make citizens feels they are down at the bottom of the ladder. These issues cannot be resolved except in the context of a general conference and with political will to accept the outcome of this conference.

However, if the conference is a mere gathering, then the crisis will continue. We, as a party, are more inclined to the proposal of the conference than the reconciliation, which means among conflicting parties and confined to them where the treatment of the issues will confine to the causes of the conflict without involvement others. Therefore, we should provide comprehensive solutions for the underlying causes and we believe consent on essential issues relating to running the country has proved a failure so far. We need to reach convictions regardless of who agrees with me or with the other party.

sudanow.info.sd: What are your means to achieve this transformation and to come out with Sudan to safety?

Answer: “It is true that presently we have a problem represented in the government’s concern to remain in power, and it is ready to deal with the others in any form provided that they do not touch the standing government. If we consider the causes of the standing conflicts in the country, we will find that they are the outcome of the policies of the current government and therefore if the government wants to preserve its power by using the same method of solving problems, the results will be negative. A living example is what happened with the south, which separated as a result of the government’s method in tackling the issues in Naivasha. The same thing was applied in tackling the Darfur issue via signing agreement with one party without involving the other parties. Such a method will not achieve stability or peace because the agreement is with one party while the war is still going on.

Our prospect is represented in what has been repeated by all the people which the importance of involving all the concerned parties to the conflict. It is true that the attempt to move the dispute to inside the rival groups or the method of dismantling the factions will weaken them, but the problem will remain unsolved. Similarly, the government’s method to divide and weaken the opposition is not in its interest. If this government thinks clearly, it will realize that its interest lies in the presence of a strong and real opposition to help it and show it her mistakes and shortcomings, holding it back from systematically repeating its mistakes so that it would be able to overcome the disadvantages.

Adopting a hostile method to destroy the opposition is of no use because according to history experiences, there is no a single power and all the powers which attempted to last alone have eventually been strangled by their mistakes. Therefore, to tackle the issue, we, as government and opposition, need cooperation and readiness to provide concessions.

It is true that our objective, as opposition party, is to topple the system, but if there is room enough for tackling the national issues, it would be better for the country.”

 

sudanow.info.sd: The future cannot be made by hopes, but need mechanisms and work. How do you view this?

Answer: “One of the means used to reach the future under the government obstinacy is for the different forces to come together in a joint action for the sake of the national objectives despite the partisan differences. This reality pushes the political forces to provide concessions for the sake of working together, at least within the program of the joint action in the face of the other, and promote for this program through the peaceful democratic means.”

sudanow.info.sd: The government says the opposition is afraid of the Islamic program and therefore it is evading from participation in the formulation of a constitution that addresses the issues which concerns the citizens and resolves those issues??

Answer: “The talk about Islam is really found in all the Islamic countries. However, Islam is politically used in an attempt to utilize it under the political variations and reforms in the specific country. Sudan’s experience in this respect is a living example that the proposed Islamic mottos are more political than Islamic and the evidence is that after 23 years of rule, we are still talking about the implementation of the Islamic Sharia. Sometimes the government even talks about the Islamic Sharia just to distract the people when it feels surrounded.

The political forces are definitely not against Islam. Islam is an essential component in our community where religion is also a very important component in the society culture and we cannot corner the religion since it is linked with our morals, cultures and social laws. We need the religion, but unfortunately, it is utilized to reach political goals, as it is presently the case in Sudan. The Islamic currents, with their various types, use Islam to attain power, terrorize the other forces, and prevent them from working. The evidence here is what the Islamic Constitution Front has been calling for to impose the Islamic constitution on the Sudanese people, claiming that they do not need to be consulted with regard to Sharia. This method contradicts the religion and the matter of Shura (consultation) which the Islam calls for. I must point here that the issue of the Islamic constitution was dropped in Naivasha, matter which indicated that religion is used politically.”

 

sudanow.info.sd: The government’s address, with regard to the inside and outside, sometimes accuses the opposition of being traitors?

Answers: The way in which the government deals with the western community is evidence on the political exploitation of the issue of Islam where the government can be ready to make big concessions that can harm the country when it feels weak before the west and the external pressures and forgets that it is talking about an Islamic community. The government provides concessions for the enemies, as it is the case with the presence of big numbers of foreign troops in the Sudanese territories, where the government did not ask for these troops to be Muslims as a condition to be allowed to operate inside the country. These troops have now become part of the internal situation, which affirms that the used standards are not the Islamic standards.

sudanow.info.sd: (interruption) but doesn’t Islam call for freedom?

Answer: “The essence of Islam is freedom, justice and human rights and not the application of the penalties only. Islam provided the right to the individual whether to believe or disbelieve. Islam has never called for a religious State but all the conflicts that happened throughout the history were political. For instance, the Fatimi, Abbassi and Othmani States have not expressed the essence of Islam and nobody said Islam is a democratic State without succession. On the contrary, peoples rejected Christianity because it was based on oppression and that the State has the absolute right to do whatever it wants on the community in the name of religion. This experience will never succeed unless the people tend toward implementing the essence of Islam regarding the people’s rights and freedoms.”

sudanow.info.sd: How do you view the external dimension against the Sudanese nation and the extent of its influence on the internal situation?

Answer: “Given the circumstances currently surrounding the region around us, Sudan is targeted by foreign forces and what is happening in Sudan now is not far from what is happening in the countries of the region. There is an American project tending to divide the region into a group of small states and entities. This project stands on many proposals including the new Middle East, the Great Middle East, the creative chaos etc… All these will eventually outpour towards re-dividing the Middle East area, including Africa, with the aim to weaken Sudan via dividing it into small entities on sectarian bases. This project is comprehensive and being planned for and implemented now and Sudan is not far from this plot and what is happening in it now is greatly associated with this colonialist project in the area.

According to this plot, Sudan is to be divided into a group of states as it is a great country with huge resources and above all else qualified to be influential within its African, Arab and Islamic surrounding. Sudan has played an essential role concerning the exchange of cultures within the African, Arab and Islamic spheres and via its direct interrelations, which meant barriers have to be placed to prevent Sudan from playing this role.

Unfortunately we, with our political blunders, have allowed the external forces to be the controller in tackling our internal issues where the western forces have played a key role in encouraging the southerners to separate as if separation would end the conflicts and the prolonged war between the north and the south.

Additionally, if we take into consideration those who have planned and set the prospect for the resolution of the conflict when they talked about one country with two systems, we will find that they were aware that this project would lead them to the separation of the south as a first step within the division plot.

Unfortunately we have unconsciously followed this project until the south separated and when that happened, we discovered the next day that what was said to us about peace was just deception, and that the coming phase of the project was for the south to be a spearhead for further tension in the north prior to implement the remaining of the project.

In short, the final outcome is that the separation has not achieved stability and the war has not ended and above all else no normal ties between the north and the south have been established. This means we have provided a made concession represented in losing a dear part of our homeland for no price. This role is still continuing if we take into account the roles played by the international community concerning the Darfur issue which has become a gate for presence of international forces inside Sudan. The other part is that any solution for this issue has not worked because the international community has not targeted the realization of stability and peace in the region.

It is very obvious that the adopted method in resolving the Darfur conflict was not meant to find a lasting solution but to ensure continuation of the conflict until the final goal of the project is reached.”

sudanow.info.sd: But there are efforts being exerted by Qatar?

Answer: “All the efforts been made to achieve peace and stability in Darfur have not reached a result. We have paid huge money and signed agreements with parties to the conflict, but that has not resolved the conflict yet, because this is what the west wants in the first place, whether via external interventions or our internal practices. If we failed to reach a solution in the end, we will get to a new self-determination and separate another part of Sudan. This project is continuing whether in the Blue Nile or South Kordofan, matter which reveals the role of the external forces with regard to targeting Sudan.”

sudanow.info.sd: Then how can we face these external interventions?

Answer: “The external plots cannot be faced unless we have a cohesive internal front, and presently Sudan is a fragile country in which the plot has been implemented, even if partially, with the separation of the south. However, this project is faced by barriers in Iraq, Syria and many other countries due to the objective circumstances inside the concerned countries, but no country is an exception in this project.”

sudanow.info.sd: Why has this project succeeded in Sudan?

Answer: “Because our internal front was and still weak and fragile and therefore the project of dividing and fragmenting Sudan is now continuing, other divisions can take place very soon because, the Sudanese, consciously or unconsciously, are participating in the implementation of this plot.”

sudanow.info.sd: How do you explain the arguments of some trends about the voluntary unity of Sudan’s regions?

Answer: “When we say that the unity of Sudan’s regions is a voluntary unity, it means that if I can voluntarily unite with you, I can similarly walk out when I feel I don’t like. What had happened in Sudan could not happen in any country. Sudan could have told the United Nations that self-determination could not happen in Sudan according to international laws because its status is internationally supported and that the borders left by the colonial powers for all the components of the world, are the recognized borders and are not subject to change.

Unfortunately, the Sudanese kept silent regarding these texts and the African Union also kept mum regarding the right for self-determination for the south, despite the fact that laws and norms reaffirm the preservation of the inherited borders from the colonial era and despite its knowledge that South Sudan still constitutes a great threat to the African countries where there are conflicts similar to Sudan’s conflict, matter which affirms the size of the external plot being woven against the Sudan.”

sudanow.info.sd: Has the Arab role with its country institutions failed to support Sudan, or was it Sudan that failed to clearly state its argument deliver its message to the Arabs?

 

Answer: “The Arab role, under the Arab climate, was less than required due to the circumstances faced by the Arab region, currently soaked in conflicts and other enmities such as the enmity with Iran or the inter-Arab enmities. All these reasons made the Arab world unable to provide what is required to face what has happened in Sudan, despite the fact that some Arab countries have provided financial and political support to Sudan and their stance was supportive to Sudan in face of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Unfortunately, the Arab region is faced by the dividing colonialist project which prevented the Arab countries from providing what is possible to Sudan. Some of the Arab countries have even experienced the worst such as the case in Syria. Even the Arab League has become a contributor to the implementation of the foreign projects against the components of the Arab world. Everybody in Sudan feels that Arabs are regretful for the separation of the south but no one indicate that the Arab are surrounded with the same plot and the same project.”

sudanow.info.sd: Where is Sudan with regard to the Arab spring?

Answer: “The Arab spring is an American term and the spring which took place in the region was very natural under the existence of bad and corrupt systems and therefore it was normal for their peoples to turn against them and reject their continuation whether in Egypt, Tunis, Libya or other. However, the extent of the popular rejection of the existing systems was faced by precautions on the part of the western forces whereas when they felt that the change in these systems has become a reality, they started a plot to contain these revolutions so that the change wouldn’t be essential.

Nevertheless, politics remains as its and therefore the so-called Arab spring is contained by the colonialist forces in many countries via direct interventions which enabled them to specify the change and its structure as it was the case in Tunis and Libya and then the big intervention in Egypt and where the Egyptians quickly revolted against their new government after they felt as if their revolution was stolen from them. We believe that the reasons behind the breaking up of the popular uprisings were objective but unfortunately those uprisings have been aborted by the foreign interventions which prevented them from effecting real changes.

sudanow.info.sd: Even the mottos which call for democracy and freedom?

Answer: “The mottos raised are relating to freedoms and democracy, but the changes for which the peoples of the region were calling for have been aborted. If we take Syria as an example we will find that the instruments of the revolution there are foreign instruments and not national because of the direct western and some Arab interventions. Additionally, all the forces used in the Syrian revolution are coming from outside with the aim to destroy and sabotage. The choice in Syria should have necessarily been to preserve the property of the State even if the goal is to change the system. What is happening in Syria proves that what is targeted is the State and not the system because even if the current situation is overcome, the country will have to start from zero which indicates that the so-called Arab spring at the region was for logical reasons at some areas but aborted by foreign interventions and the American and Zionist hegemony.

Presently America is speaking boldly that Iran should not obtain a nuclear weapon, but at the same time the international community is aware that Israel possess nuclear weapons. However, in its case, nobody speaks against the Israeli nuclear arsenal. This reflects the contradictive standards of the international community and therefore the spring no longer deserves to be named spring because the conflict in the region is still ongoing and the bloodletting together with the major issues are still standing in Egypt and Tunis not to mention the future political, economic and social implications of that on those countries. As for Libya, the features of the dividing project started to appear and Libya is likely to fragment into tribes, clans and armed groups on regional bases to eventually become four or three states.”

sudanow.info.sd: Have the civil societies helped the State or is it the State which has not helped them?

Answer: “It obviously seems that the State’s view of the civil society is very suspicious and that the State is afraid of the civil society organizations. These organizations have roles in resolving the standing issues and directly addressing them together with the community issues. They also have the ability to communicate with the people directly and consequently they have a role in disclosing the real information on the ground. They further have the role in establishing positive relations that at some areas surpass the role of the State’s institutions and greatly contribute to some stances to create further awareness.

In fact the roles of the civil society organizations in resolving the issues and providing necessary assistance for the people have become obvious under circumstances such as in the camps which are the result of a conflict. It is true that there are some organizations which have roles and relations with foreign organizations, but it is not likely that all the organizations be punished for the fault of certain organizations involved with foreign trends or organizations. The organizations which have objectives far from the national goals should be punished, but the others should be allowed to work. There are national civil society organizations which perform works without conditions or any involvement with external trends or foreign organizations.”

sudanow.info.sd: Is the Sudanese economic crisis a weakness of capabilities or inappropriate policies?

Answer: “No doubt that the economic crisis is an outcome of the government’s adopted policies besides other factors. However, the government’s policies were the main reason, starting with the privatization policy where the State’s institutions have turned to be owned by a certain group.

Furthermore, the erroneous policies concerned with building the country’s economy by completely depending on the oil revenues at a time when the correct policy was to better exploit the oil revenues in serving the economy so that if the oil is depleted, there would be alternatives. What happened in this respect was completely the opposite.

The private sector focused on profits and never invested in fields that could help in building the State and the outcome was that we wasted the oil money and neglected the agricultural and industrial sectors which were out of Sudan’s economic equation. The animal resources and other sectors had very limited contributions to the country’s economy, the reason why when the country lost the oil resources, the government was forced to resort to easy solutions represented in imposition of taxes and other fees which negatively reflected on the economy and caused the national capital to immigrate. Additionally there is the issue of corruption where there are many government institutions which set aside their revenues and put them outside the State’s general budget besides the double expenditure on the government bodies instead of on services for the citizens.

Presently there are many Sudanese investments in the neighboring countries that could have contributed to the growth of the national economy if investment policies adopted to encourage them to stay home. People say the Sate is exposed to collapsing because the State has become unable to fulfill the requirements of the people or provide them with services. Therefore, we believe the economic issue should be the priority before the constitution.

The government should admit that here is an economic crisis and should call for a sitting to tackle it. There are many armed conflicts and annually increasing debts. We further don’t have any external dealing that could constitute an alternate because of the sanctions imposed on us which means more collapse.”