Release International

Politicians representing southern Sudan are moving their headquarters north to Khartoum in a last-ditch attempt to save the nation's peace process.

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) wants to have more clout in the government of national unity established after the 2005 north-south peace accord. Reuters reports that the SPLM is to move its base from Juba, the southern capital, to Khartoum.

The SPLM claims that its northern partners in government -- President al-Bashir's National Congress Party (NCP) -- are dominating national politics. It accuses the NCP of taking unilateral decisions which threaten to derail the peace process completely. For example, the NCP has stubbornly refused to accept 'foreign interference' in Darfur whereas the SPLM supports the idea of a United Nations peacekeeping mission in the province.

SPLM spokesman Yasir Arman said that the future of the current ruling coalition hung in the balance, unless the SPLM exerted its authority. 'This will no longer be a government of national unity but a government of the National Congress Party,' he said.

Under the 2005 peace deal, southern Sudan will be allowed to hold a referendum in 2011 in which southerners can vote on secession. Many analysts predict that southerners will vote to divorce themselves politically from the mainly Arab and Muslim north.

• Pray that the SPLM would work doggedly for peace and justice for southerners.
• Pray that politicians on all sides would be committed to the longer term vision of lasting peace for Sudan and her people.

Back to top