June 24, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese national assembly headed into summer recess without approving key laws needed to conform with the constitution and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)signed in 2005.
The draft bills of the National Security Law and the referendum law are still being deliberated without agreement between the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM).
The parliament speaker Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Tahir told reporters that there is plenty of time to endorse remaining laws when they return in October.
On the referendum law Al-Tahir said that the NCP view is based on the belief that they will not facilitate secession through a law.
He added that the Southerners will be given the choice to choose between unity and secession but the CPA encourages parties to make unity attractive.
The main issues being discussed on the referendum law include the seat of the Referendum Commission, its chairmanship, composition of the Commission, voter definition and qualification and voting centers.
The CPA stipulates that the people of Southern Sudan will exercise their right to self-determination through the exercise of an internationally monitored referendum to either choose to create an independent country or confirming the current unity of Sudan.
The SPLM is concerned that delay in passing the law will push back the referendum date similar to the manner by which the election date was rescheduled from July 2009 to February 2010.
Al-Tahir today rejected any talk of further postponing the elections despite failing to adopt the two laws.
The NCP insists that the security and intelligence bureau should be tasked with more than just gathering and analyzing information. Opposition parties want to overhaul the bureau’s powers particularly the power to arrest.
Critics say the current form of the security agency prevent the conducting of fair and free elections.
(ST)
حركة العدل و المساواة السودانية
موقع متخصص بنقل آخر الأخبار و البيانات و القرارات لحركة العدل و المساواة السودانية