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Sudan’s leading opposition party in disarray

May 8, 2017 at 12:14 pm

Sudanese parliament in session, 4 May 2017 [crscntstrafrica‏/Twitter]

The political secretary of Sudan’s Popular Congress Party (PCP), Kamal Omer, a leading opponent of the Sudanese government, has resigned from his position accusing his own party of betraying the principles of their founder, the late Hassan Abdallah Al-Turabi.

Omer’s resignation came over the weekend when he claimed that the decision not to make constitutional changes to restrain the powers of the intelligence services was contrary to the agreed principles of the two-year national dialogue process and undermined the PCP’s declared stance on the issue of constitutional freedoms.

I wouldn’t hold any government or party post and my stance reflects the real position of the PCP

he said.

Omer launched a strenuous criticism of the party which he described as being “incoherent” and lacking institutions or a decision making process. “We only demand to correct the path of the party…now PCP has no institutions…it only has a secretary-general who controls all decisions.”

Read: Will the new Sudanese government bring trust back into politics?

Last month, the PCP threatened to withdraw from the political process unless the sweeping powers of the intelligence services were reduced to the collection of information only and its powers of detention and arrest were regulated through warrants of arrest issued by judges. The modifications to the 2005 constitution aimed to prevent arrests of political activists and politicians without judicial review and also sought to end press censorship and the confiscation of publications. The amendments were rejected by the National Assembly at the end of April.

Image of Dr. Ali Al-Haj [sudaneseonline]

Image of Dr. Ali Al-Haj [sudaneseonline]

Despite the defeat, the PCP leader Ali Al-Haj, submitted a list of candidates and vowed to continue to support the political process. That decision appears to have exposed the divisions in the party and prompted Omer’s resignation.

Another PCP member nominated for a position in the new government, Sharif Banaga, a former governor of Khartoum, has also withdrawn his name from the list of appointees.