Sudan Ruling Party To Give Up Power If Defeated in Elections
CAIRO, July 14 (News Agencies) - Sudan's ruling National Congress (NC) party would give up power if it lost democratic elections following any successful peace conference sponsored by Egypt and Libya, its leader said here Saturday.
"If our party is not elected, then we are ready to be in the opposition," NC Secretary General Ibrahim Ahmed Omar told AFP, summing up remarks he gave in Arabic at a press conference at the Sudanese embassy in Cairo.
The remarks appeared aimed at bolstering chances for the success of the Egyptian-Libyan initiative aimed at ending an 18-year civil war and reconciling different political factions in Sudan.
The Khartoum government and main opposition groups in the last two weeks accepted the Arab initiative which calls for a transitional government in Sudan as well as democracy and unity between the warring north and south.
However, elections were still down the road as Egypt and Libya have yet to announce when they will convene a peace conference.
The initiative also calls for an immediate ceasefire, which Omar said must take place before the peace conference is held.
The opposing sides would then have to agree to the key points of the peace plan before forming a transitional government, which then would set a date for democratic elections for a new government, Omar said.
Omar said hopes for a ceasefire appeared high.
"The fact that we have now an initiative which is accepted by most of the parties in Sudan would be a good reason for the rebels to accept a ceasefire," he said.
He was referring to the southern rebels in Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), which has been waging an 18-year war against successive Arab and Muslim governments in Khartoum.
In 1995, northern opposition groups took up arms against the government of President Omar al-Beshir, which seized power six years earlier in a coup backed by Islamic
activists.
The SPLA is part of the National Democratic Alliance, an umbrella grouping for the southern rebels and northern opposition, which have together accepted the peace plan.
The peace plan has also been accepted by the popular Umma party, which left the NDA after sealing a rapprochement with Khartoum.
