Tension over constitutional review heightens
In a press conference held at the United Democratic Front (UDF) premises on Monday 7 March 2011, the Chairman of the Southern Sudan Democratic Front (SSDF), Prof. David De Chan, said that the constitution is a document for the whole nation, so it should never be dominated by one single party. He says that there is an imbalance in representation of the opposition parties in the Review Committee.
Listen to Pascal Ladu\'s radio report \"Opposition pulls out of constitution review\" and also read his article about the \"Constitutional review committee under fire\"
De Chan reiterated that following the Presidential Decree appointing 11 members of other political parties to join the Committee, already made up of 24 members of the Sudan People\'s Liberation Movement (SPLM), another decree appointed even more SPLM members: \"On 21 February 2011, another decree was issued by the President of the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) appointing additional 17 members of SPLM, making a total of 41 members of SPLM in the Technical Committee.\"
The SSDF chairman said they went to the meetings of the Committee full of hope to move ahead together in order to accomplish the great task assigned to them by the President of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit. However, the opposition parties represented in the technical committee have declared to the public that their continuity in the committee has become untenable.
\"The SPLM decided to use the simple majority as a means to reach decisions on contentious issues of vital national interest.\"
De Chan alleged that the rule of procedures were violated by the ruling SPLM who had the majority of 41 members versus 11 members from other parties. \"In spite of our previous agreement, the SPLM decided to use the simple majority contrary to what had been agreed upon as a means to reach decisions on contentious issues of vital national interest.\"
\"In that case the political parties found themselves in a difficult situation on how to be effective and their participation and performance became ineffective in the deliberations of the review committee,\" De Chan continued.
Commenting on power sharing, De Chan said the political parties propose that it should be 50-50 sharing, adding that this percentage should apply to the national, state and county levels. He added that the opposition parties demand a lean government/legislature in order to save money for front-line services, such as health, education, water and roads among others, \"while the SPLM, on the other hand, wants a bigger government, because they want to accommodate their members who were in northern Sudan.\"
For more background information about the Southern parties check the Electionnaire
According to him, the opposition parties are also demanding the public security and external security not to be under a single directorate because this would tantamount to a monopoly of power.
The withdrawal of the opposition marks the parties\' clear intention of only committing to a process which is all-inclusive and promises to represent their interests on an equal basis with those of the SPLM. Finding a common ground between all parties is the only viable scenario by which the constitutional review process is to move forward. The review process risks to be delayed if the SPLM and opposition parties do not soon reach a workable solution for both sides.
