July 18, 2009 (CAIRO) — The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir emphasized the importance of the upcoming general elections for democratic transformation in the country.
Al-Bashir speaking before hundreds of Sudanese supporters at the Conference Center in the Egyptian capital said that the National Congress Party (NCP) “does not and will not want to stay in power forever,”.
“We do not want to stay twenty-five years on top of the people but looking at the future and seeking a peaceful and genuine transfer of power,” Al-Bashir said.
The Sudanese general elections were twice delayed due to logistical and scheduling issues. Sudanese opposition parties blame the government for not managing the process properly.
The elections will mark the end of the interim period that started in July 2005 following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
According to the CPA, the presidential and parliamentary elections on national and state levels were supposed to be held before July 2009. They are now scheduled for April 2010.
Al-Bashir who came to power 20 years ago through a bloodless coup said that the NCP “does not claim to be the best or more keen on Sudan but we want to get rid of sensitivities”.
He said that Sudan will welcome any external parties wishing to monitor the elections.
“Any party, with or against us, wishing to monitor the elections are more than welcome but on the condition that they respect our values and traditions and beliefs else we will expel them,” Al-Bashir said.
The Sudanese head of state was likely referring to his decision to expel more than a dozen aid groups from Darfur accusing them of collaborating with the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for him in connection with Darfur war crimes.
Al-Bashir said that the South Sudan self-referendum is an important part of the CPA interim period.
He warned that the secession of the South “will open the appetite of separatists in any position in the North and South and Africa whose borders were determined by the colonial powers,” adding that unity is in the interest of both sides.
In 2011, South Sudan will vote in a self-referendum on whether they want to remain part of the north or establish a separate state.
Bashir added that opening the door for revising the components of these states means “dividing Africa and any security confrontations in the continent will lead to more retardation”.
“We are keen on unity and many in SPLM [Sudan People Liberation Movement] are keen on unity but it needs work. Some powers want to keep us occupied by side issues so that we are suddenly faced with referendum and the result is division of Sudan,” he said.
“We want voluntary unity and we encourage this because we tried wars and its destruction,” he added.
The Sudanese president noted that their is a fund for supporting unity using remittances from oil revenue saying that more development work will be undertaken in the South.
Bashir returned to Khartoum today after a week-long visit to Egypt and was received by his First Vice President Salva Kiir.
Kiir briefed Bashir on the situation in the country during his absence, Sudan official news agency (SUNA) reported.
(ST)
حركة العدل و المساواة السودانية
موقع متخصص بنقل آخر الأخبار و البيانات و القرارات لحركة العدل و المساواة السودانية