Numerous were the government's calls on parties to take part in forming the permanent constitution of Sudan to the replace the 2005 interim constitution which was based on the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and formulated in cooperation with SPLM.

However, following the secession of South Sudan, there materialized the need to form a new social charter in which all political forces and civil society organizations take part and which will become a political reference for organizing the political, economic, and social processes in the country.

 

These calls were met by rejection from opposition political parties, rejection for reasons that some described as "illogical". Opposition parties demanded the establishment of an transitional government saying the current atmosphere is inconvenient for writing a new constitution.

Repeated government calls

The call for writing a new permanent constitution came from the presidency of the republic. The president formed a committee whose task is to meet with political forces. He met with political party leaders in the republican palace to express his support for writing a constitution characterized by reconciliation and one that preserves the unity, principles, values, and cultural and religious heritage of the country.

The president kept calling on political forces in his formal and popular meeting to reach a reconciliatory vision on the constitution considering it will organize the political process and serve as a tool for assessing government performance and to resolve differences.

In his popular meeting with the public on Independence Day upon the inauguration of Roseiris Heightening Project, the president called on political forces and armed movements to come together and benefit from the spirit of independence to come up with a new map for governing the country based on the constitution, adding that this call is not exclusive to any particular party, but open for all.

First Vice President (FVP) Ali Osman Mohammed Taha called on all political forces and opposition parties to remember that the interests of the country override personal and party interests and forget the disputes of the past and work together to build a healthy country under the rule of law.

In the FVP's latest visit to Nyala, he renewed his call for writing the constitution and declared the government's readiness for a comprehensive national dialogue. He called on parties to get involved in a dialogue on the national issues to come up with a reconciliatory vision for a new constitution that paves the way from the development and reconstruction of the country.

Constitution pillars

Constitutional law expert Mohammed Ahmed Salim said in an interview with (Sudan Vision) that the writing of the constitution is a process that men, women, children, and everyone must take part in. The views of all these categories must be formulated into legal constitutional texts by highly skilled neutral legal experts.

The opinion polling process must be preceded by a comprehensive awareness campaign in all media, especially in the rural areas.

He added that the forthcoming constitution must set the tone of the political process and the way the country is governed through good governance.

Accord on the constitution

Head of the National Unity Parties Council Abood Jabir said the participation of the Sudanese people in the writing of the constitution means progress towards stability, peace, and national unity considering that the constitution is a national effort that guarantees real independence of national will.

He called on historical political parties to lead the way in leading national efforts towards coordinating visions to integrate national targets and goals to form a unanimous national conception.

Jabir affirmed that the council seeks to reinforce popular consultancy policies in the conduct of all political parties to raise legal and constitutional awareness among Sudanese citizens through activating all social, political, cultural, and media tools in the country in participation from all community sectors.

He clarified that the council sees the biggest challenge facing Sudanese parties is to work collaboratively to overcome political party differences and modernize the means and tools they use to increase the effectiveness of communication according to national communal factors to agree on the components of a constitution to guarantee and establish a state of society which guarantee all the rights of all Sudanese citizens.

Abood Jabir pointed out that the council formulated an initiative to be led by Al-Sadig Al-Mahdi and Mohammed Osman Al-Merghani with the president of the republic to unite the domestic front, render the efforts to write a new constitution a success, and getting all the Sudanese to gather around it.

Member of the Unionist Democratic Party Taj Alsir Mohammed Salih was of the same opinion. He stressed the need for reaching accord around the issues of the constitution and to distance Sudan away from the local and international conspiracies intended to undermine the country, such as what happened in the case of South Sudan. He called on all political parties to work according to what national interests dictate and forget the bitterness of the past.

He explained that his party signed the Cairo Agreement of 2005 in which the call for writing a new constitution to run the country was made.

Opposition parties appear reserved

Opposition parties appeared reserved about the call for a new constitution. National Umma Party (NUP) appeared reserved as well. Mariam Alsadig, Secretary of Political Office of NUP, said her party sees that the way forward is through forming a transitional government to be composed of all political parties to run the country for 3 to 4 years and then organize elections that lead to the formation of a democratic government that will reach solutions with rebel movements and enhances international relations.

She accused the government of preparing a constitution which parties can take part in by signature only without making any real change.

Popular Congress Party (PCP) announced that it rejects the constitution committee which is headed by Field Marshal Abdulrahman Swar Al-Dahab. Political Secretary of the PCP Kamal Omer explained that the current atmosphere is congested and inconvenient for writing a constitution, clinging to the vision that states the government must be overthrown and a transitional government must be put in place. Legal expert Mohammed Ahmed Salim was of a contrary opinion regarding. In a previous interview explained that presently the country is more in need of a constitution that maintains the peaceful transfer of power, enables benefitting from past experiences, and aborts the efforts of the enemies of the country. He added that the new constitution writing process starts with an initiative made by the president in his constitutional capacity, not his party capacity, followed by the establishment of founding committee that functions on behalf of the country in which all categories of the Sudanese people are represented. He described the unwillingness of the opposition parties to participate as "having abandoned national responsibilities and siding with personal issues."

By Ibrahim Al-Jack