DATE=3/16/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SUDAN / OPPOSITION (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-260247
BYLINE=CAROL PINEAU
DATELINE=ASMARA, ERITREA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The Sudanese opposition umbrella group, the
National Democratic Alliance, is facing a serious
crisis, with one of its most important members on the
verge of being ousted. As Carol Pineau reports from
Asmara, the rift could weaken the opposition.
TEXT: The Umma Party walked out of the National
Democratic Alliance Leadership Council meeting in
Asmara, protesting a vote to abolish the current
executive committee.
The reorganization is part of a general Alliance
shake-up called for last week.
// OPT // One of the opposition leaders lobbying for
the change said the Alliance had to revitalize to stop
paralyzing the executive committee and the leadership
council. // END OPT //
The National Democratic Alliance meetings were
scheduled for two-days, but have been prolonged for
nearly a week - showing the serious differences between
Umma and its fellow opposition groups.
Last December, when Sudanese president Omar el Bashir
ousted his hard-line speaker of the parliament Hasan
el Turabi, Umma made a power-sharing move without the
rest of the opposition Alliance. The party is
expected to move its headquarters back to Sudan within
the next few weeks, despite objections by the
Alliance.
Umma, an Islamic opposition group, led Sudan until it
was ousted in a 1989 military coup by the current
government.
Umma says Sudan is changing, making peace with its
neighbors, Europe, and the United States. It says
Khartoum's recent reforms mean the Alliance must
change as well, and reconcile with the government.
But another key opposition player, the Sudanese
People's Liberation Army, the S-P-L-A, calls
Khartoum's recent overtures nothing more than - a
charm offensive. For S-P-L-A leader John Garang,
reconciling with Khartoum - and Sudan's ruling
National Islamic Front - is out of the question.
/// GARANG ACT ///
Our position is categorical. It is time to
increase the pressure on the N-I-F. The N-I-F
will not move because of good behavior of the N-
D-A. It will move because of pressure from the
N-D-A, from the international community. It is
a totalitarian system and it can only be moved
through pressure.
//// END ACT///
Umma's relations with Khartoum put the opposition
forces in a difficult position: either expel Umma and
suffer disunity by sending away a key player, or keep
Umma and risk having a friend of the enemy within the
opposition.
Umma could also take along fellow Islamic opposition
groups, creating an Arab-African divide within the
opposition.
// OPT // John Garang says he is certain the National
Democratic Alliance can survive the rift, while the
ruling National Islamic Front cannot survive its
current crisis.
/// GARANG ACT // OPT ACT ///
The problems within the N-D-A are problems
within a democratic organization. We resolve
them through discussion, as we have been doing.
The N-I-F is undemocratic by nature. It cannot
possibly reform or be reformed. There is a
definite rift within the N-I-F. That does not
necessarily lead to reforms. It can even lead
to hardening of the N-I-F position. The people
around (President) Bashir are quite hard-lined.
For the first time they decried that all primary
schools be Koranic schools. Even Turabi did
not make that decree.
/// END ACT // END OPT ACT ///
Now it looks as though Umma will be heading back to
Khartoum alone, while the opposition Alliance works to
increase resistance against the Islamic government in
Khartoum.
/// REST OPT ///
For many observers an opposition coalition made up of
a former ruling party plus seven other opposition
parties, many of whom opposed Umma when it was in
power, is a case of politics making strange
bedfellows.
One high ranking S-P-L-A member says that Umma was an
enemy before, now it is a friend, and tomorrow it
could be an enemy again. (SIGNED)
NEB/CP/GE/RAE
16-Mar-2000 11:07 AM EDT (16-Mar-2000 1607 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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