National Liberation Party suspends power-sharing with Khartoum

17/06/2015 22:17

The National Liberation and Justice Party says it withdraws officials from the central and state governments, after a meeting headed by El Tijani Sese.

The National Liberation and Justice Party announced its suspension of the political power-sharing protocol with Sudan's ruling National Congress Party. Its officials are said to have left their government posts. The party plans holding a press conference to provide more details on Thursday.

Ahmed Fadel, spokesman for the four-months-old political party said that the leadership took the decision unanimously, following an emergency meeting headed by Dr El Tijani Sese on Wednesday morning in Khartoum. Sese is the chairman of the National Liberation and Justice Party, which was conceived from the former rebel Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) on 23 February.

In addition, Fadel told Radio Dabanga that all of the party's officials were withdrawn from their posts in the central and state governments.

He did not disclose which reasons led the National Liberation and Justice Party to come to such a decision. Details and an explanation will be given in a press conference in Khartoum on Thursday.

The party's power-sharing protocol with the NCP is part of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) of 2011, which was co-signed firstly by Sese's movement, and later by the former rebel JEM-Sudan.

Internal struggles

End December last year, internal LJM conflicts surfaced, when Bahar Idris Abu Garda, LJM Secretary-General, publicly accused Sese of mismanagement and delaying the implementation of the DDPD security arrangements. Abu Garda furthermore announced the formation of a new political party, the Liberation and Justice Party.

After Sese had dismissed Abu Garda early January, the LJM Interim Board decided to withdraw his mandate. The Board’s chairman would take over Sese’s functions from 17 January onwards, until the election of a new LJM chairman, scheduled to take place in February.

Last March the LJM split into two political parties following Sese's and Abu Garda's deep differences. The two parties participated in April’s general elections at the national constituencies’ level.