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Following Mr. Al-Dirdiri
remarks: what the NCP and SPLM must do in the next 10 months
By
Constantine Obura Bartel
JAN
12/2010, SSN; One of the main causes of the current impasse in the
Sudanese peace process is either the lack of a vision about where the
country should go or the denial of generation long reality that the
country by any measure of governance has never been or felt as one.
As Hamid
Eltgani Ali (January 10, 2010) tacitly acknowledges the complex and
volatile nature of events in Sudan as a state and a nation, and here it
comes if there is a nation to begin with.
The vision
of a peaceful coexistence in a new and united Sudan was not taken
seriously for different reasons by those who either vigorously opposed
it or merely gave it the benefit of the doubt.
With the
champion of that vision, Dr. John Garang, no longer with us, I believe
the second best vision has been put forward by Mr. Al-Dirdiri Mohamed
Ahmed, a leading figure at the NCP, who has ruled out any possibility
for averting the probable secession vote in the remaining timeframe.
Mr. Al-Dardiri
is reviving the vision of a peaceful coexistence by saying that the
process should be smooth, peaceful and attractive to prevent any return
to war (SudanTribune Jan 2010).
What does
this mean in practice? The way forward is to do the following:
Before the referendum: the two parties must setup a body to pick
up the low hanging fruits preferably in the first quarter of 2010. These
are important issues and areas that the two parties can agree on with
little effort or persuasion.
The
immediate objective of the body is to put in place to articulate a
policy framework comprising of an overall strategy for bilateral
cooperation, with sectoral plans (for agriculture, industry and
services) and issue-based plans (such as transport and infrastructure,
investment and local participation in the economy).
The parties
must establish an institutional basis and pledge resources to organize
negotiating teams, formulate objectives and outcomes, and agree on the
conduct of the negotiations and its continuation post the 2011
referendum. The low hanging fruits to be picked up are:
-
The freedom and people's rights of
residence by establishing the status and regulations for the free
movement of persons between the North and the South;
-
A framework for
Bilateral Trade Agreement that facilitates a favored trading status
between the North and the South;
-
Establish institutions
to jointly address issues of scientific and cultural significance.
This
process should be co-chaired preferably by Mr. Al-Dirdiri Mohamed Ahmed
and an SPLM representative. The parties will agree on a number of
stakeholders to observer the process. The new governments in the South
and the North will decide what issues to include and exclude from the
negotiations by putting forward their respective positions and
timelines.
After
the referendum: the
parties will work on a Convention of Free Trade Association (FTA) which
establishes a preferential relationship for services between the North
and the South and among Southern Sudan and its emerging economic
partners in East Africa.
The Convention would commit the two parties not to apply restrictions on
the right to supply services within the territory of a Member State in
respect of natural persons, companies or firms of Member States who are
established in the territory of another Member State. A list of
exceptions to this obligation will also be outlined and agreed upon.
I
believe such an institutional arrangement, blessed by the political
process to bring together technocrats from both sides of the peace
divide will bring back the much needed sense of a shared direction and
vision not only to the political process but to the development process
as well.
Important too are joint measures to guarantee the security of the rural
populations especially in the bordering states.
These security and bread-and-butter issues that this group will discuss
are much needed discourses that have been absent from the table.
Perhaps this would usher in the beginnings of a perfect community free
from the imperfections of the nation state that the current Sudan has so
vividly demonstrated.
Email:
cbartel@bluewin.ch
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