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Sudan Opposition Leader Says Reform a Slow Process

Nadia Taha

   WASHINGTON - Months of peaceful protests helped force Sudan's
   autocratic President Omar al-Bashir out of office in April after 30
   years.

   The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), a coalition of labor
   unions, led the way in organizing the protests. Now, the group and
   other opposition organizations are working with the military to create
   a new democratic government.

   It is slow work, says Mohammed Nagi al-Assam, the SPA spokesperson who
   has been at the forefront of the protest movement.

   The country has a new Cabinet and six civilians sit with five military
   officers on the Sovereign Council, the country's new executive body.
   There is a commitment to hold elections and have a fully civilian
   government in three years.

   "And things are going on slowly but they are going in the right
   direction to achieve all the demands and goals of the project of change
   in Sudan," the 28-year-old al-Assam said in an interview at VOA
   headquarters this week.

   He pointed out one sign of progress: the United Nations Office of the
   High Commissioner for Human Rights plans to open an office in Sudan.

   "We want to ensure that every Sudanese citizen, especially in the
   conflict areas, are enjoying their freedoms and enjoying their rights,"
   he said. "And the Office of Human Rights would help a lot in ensuring
   that, in watching the situation of human rights in Sudan and any
   reporting as well any sort of human rights violation that could happen
   throughout the transitional period and beyond."

   So far, most of the change in government has been in the capital, with
   state governors who worked under Bashir remaining in place. Part of the
   problem, he said, is that the Sudan Revolutionary Front, or SRF, an
   armed rebel group that has battled the government for years, has not
   yet signed a peace deal.

   Reaching peace deal

   The SRF has been involved in drafting the new constitution, he said,
   and it will be part of the government once it signs a peace deal.

   "We are working with them very (hard) to ensure that we can reach that
   peace swiftly and very fast to ensure the participation of every
   Sudanese citizen in the upcoming days and the transitional period
   itself and in the democracy to come after three years," al-Assam said.

   The pillars of the revolution are freedom, peace and justice, al-Assam
   said, and that includes accountability for former President Bashir and
   those who aided him.

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