From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sat Jun 06 2009 - 15:47:06 EDT
South Sudan politician splits from main party
Sat Jun 6, 2009 4:14pm GMT
KHARTOUM, June 6 (Reuters) - An influential politician from semi-autonomous
south Sudan said on Saturday he was quitting the leading leading Sudan
People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) to form a new party.
His announcement before February elections comes at a time when a 2005
north-south peace deal looks increasingly fragile. Analysts worry about
unity in the south which was ravaged by two decades of war that included
south-south fighting.
"The party is called SPLM-Democratic Change," former foreign minister Akol
told Reuters.
Akol said he took the step because of what he said was the disappointment
felt by southerners in the leadership of the SPLM since they set up the
southern government in 2005.
It was not immediately clear how many members of the SPLM would side with
Akol's new party.
Some early members of SPLM-Democratic Change wanted to keep their membership
secret for now, Akol said when asked who was on board. "It's a spilt not a
splinter," he added.
An SPLM official was dismissive about the move.
"There is no split in the SPLM. It is very strange ... he is free to set up
his own party but we don't see why he should use the name," said senior SPLM
member Kosti Manibe.
The 2005 peace deal gave the southern rebel SPLM seats in Sudan's national
parliament and cabinet jobs as well a 50 percent of oil revenues from
southern wells.
"They have received $7 billion and have nothing to show for it," Akol said,
adding members of his party would run for all seats available in the
February polls but not Sudan's presidency because his party lacked the
necessary funds.
Akol and other senior commanders split from the main rebel army during the
war, leading to a period of south-south fighting in the early 1990s.
The two sides later mended the rift and Akol became foreign minister after
the peace deal. He left the post in 2007.
Southern officials said at the time he was seen as being too close to
President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's ruling north-based National Congress
Party.
The SPLM's Manibe said on Saturday Akol had neither resigned nor been
dismissed from the SPLM party despite the announcement. (Reporting by Skye
Wheeler; Editing by Matthew Jones)
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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