Sudanese opposition reluctant to participate in new gov't

Major Sudanese opposition parties are reluctant to join a broad-based government proposed by the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), which is to be declared in a few days. So far the negotiations between the NCP and the National Umma and the Democratic Unionist Parties have not come out with tangible results as the two major opposition parties insisted on structural reforms in the administration and drafting a new constitution. In this respect, Hassan Abu Sabeed, a leading member of the Democratic Unionist Party, denied in a statement Sunday participation of his party in the upcoming government. "The participation under such circumstances is meaningless," he said. He said that his party's dialogue with the NCP tried to focus on three issues which did not include government participation, explaining that the two parties reviewed issues of the constitution and laws, economy and realization of peace. For his part, Mustafa Osman Ismail, a NCP official in charge of the external relations, said that a broad-based government would be formed within the coming days after consultations with the parties which have popular weight, without naming these parties. Observers, in the meantime, ruled out the participation of major opposition parties in the new government due to disputes between the opposition and the NCP. Abdul-Rahim al-Sunni, a Sudanese political analyst, told Xinhua that "the NCP has repeated its invitation for the opposition to participate in the new cabinet, but the political parties have remained obstinate. I do not expect the opposition parties to change their stances." "There are reasons behind rejection of the parties to participate in the new government, including the role of external powers which entice the internal political forces not to participate in the government," he said. "As the opposition parties are trying to boycott the new government and make it look like a one-party government, they are working at the same time to organize their ranks and get ready for the collapse of the NCP government," he added. According to media leaks, the upcoming government would not bear big changes, which is expected to include most of the present ministers with slight reshuffle. The Sudanese opposition earlier demanded the government restructure the constitutional revision commission and involve all the political forces in drafting a new constitution for the country. The government, however, said it would subject the current constitution to amendments without completely abolishing it.