February 21, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – Nafie Ali Nafie, the vice-chairman of
Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP), has emphatically denied
reports on plans by some Islamists to re-establish the currently dormant
Islamic Movement (IM) as an independent political party.
- FILE - NCP vice-chairman Nafie Ali Nafie
In a press conference held in Khartoum on Tuesday, Nafie was asked by
reporters on the veracity of press reports that some Islamist figures
were planning to re-register the IM as a political party.
“No, this is not true”, he tersely replied. Nafie added that if these
rumours are based on the recent reform memo submitted by a group of
Islamists, he has already met members of this group and they are not
contemplating such move.
“This is a group which gave us advises and is talking from within.
They share the same ideas and program of the NCP but they are only
seeking better performance” Nafie said.
The IM was dissolved few years after Sudan’s Islamists took power in a
military coup in 1989. It comprised a wide spectrum of Islamists
including those who supported the coup and those who did not.
Following the 1999 schism in the NCP between supporters of the ousted
NIF leader Hassan Al-Turabi and fellow Islamists who sided with
President Al-Bashir, the IM was revived but it remained largely dormant,
confining its activities to issuing statements on national occasions.
The IM’s secretary-general is Vice-President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha.
In January this year, news of a mysterious reform memo drafted by
dissatisfied members of the NCP and the IM leaked to the media. The
memo, reportedly signed by 1,000 individuals, underscored the urgency of
addressing widespread corruption, establishing a citizenship-based
state and banning the combination of party positions with constitutional
positions.
Media reports in Khartoum spoke over the last two days about a number
of Islamists intending to re-register the IM as a political party. As
of Saturday, 18 February, nearly 2,000 members of the IM began receiving
text messages informing them that the old group is about to re-emerge.
“The Islamic Movement is pleased to invite you to attend its first
foundational conference which will empower the youth and those praying
in the dark to dispel years of submissiveness and disappointment” part
of the text message seen by Sudan Tribune read.
A source close to Islamists told Sudan Tribune that the group
intending to re-register the IM is seeking by this step to activate its
membership following the political changes that resulted from the
breakup of the country with South Sudan’s secession in July.
The source revealed that their group had already begun the procedures
to register the IM with the registrar of political parties.
He indicated that some NCP officials had sent messages urging them
not to rush registration while some IM members opine that there is no
need for registering it as a political party but there is a need to
re-activate the existing structures.
(ST)
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