KHARTOUM, 31 August — Sudan’s newly appointed Vice President Mubarak Al-Fadil was sworn into office last week by President Omar Bashir. Speaking to journalists after his appointment, Fadil was quick to point out that his party — which recently broke away from the Umma Party led by former President Sadiq Al-Mahdi — had joined the government to build a new political base to work for peace and "real democracy" in Sudan, but that his "party had not merged with the National Congress Party." Bashir heads the National Congress.

Instead, Fadil said, they had formed an alliance to create a new political front. He cited a recently amended political organization act that allowed parties to operate in Sudan without interference from the government.

His party and the NC agreed, he said, to set up a Senate that would draw its members from all the states of the Sudan. This type of Senate was outlined in the Machakos Protocol, and would advance federal rule in the country, said Fadil.

Sudan’s former leader Sadiq Al-Mahdi remained circumspect about the fracture and desertion within his party. Asked to qualify his current relations with the government, he told Arab News the government had "committed a foul." "We were in negotiations with them, and then the team negotiating with them was somehow brought on board with the government. Our team decided that they didn’t need any further agreement. But we, at the Umma Party, remained steadfast and said unless certain conditions are fulfilled, we wouldn’t join," he said.

Mahdi said he is puzzled, but not discouraged by the division: "We believe that in the coming days there will be a new plurality, and a greater possibility of new alliances. We maintain that we need cooperation on certain issues by the national government, but we will not join unless there is a national unity government, or free general elections. We will not join if we think there is a set-up. We will not take on the mandate of a totalitarian regime."

Concern for religious persecution and human rights has created need for a broad approach, said Mahdi. "Sudan lends itself to broad international issues, such as religious values and national integration, which are very important. For Islam, and Muslims everywhere in the world, what happens in Sudan and how we resolve our problems, will have a very important impact on Christian-Muslim relations."

Mahdi said Sudan’s religious groups, in the past, had the tendency to be in "deep denial of the others (religious groups) having any spiritual worth. It is extremely important how we resolve our religious differences between the people of the book and bridge the other African cultural differences. The current situation in Sudan will have a great impact on Arab-African relations." "How we move from the state of totalitarian control to one of democratic pluralism...is also very important."

Establishing a "democracy in the context of underdevelopment, tribalism etc. also means that Sudan will be an example for similar concerns around the world," he said.

Mahdi said Sudan is distrustful of "the imperialist international concerns that look to dominate here." What they want, he said, is the opportunity to develop "a benign international partnership."

Regarding the Machakos Protocol, Mahdi said it should be followed by a genuine peace agreement, then a process of democratic transformation. The role of mediators is legitimate and necessary, he said, adding, "At this stage the negotiations must be bilateral (between the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement)."

"After an agreement has been reached, there must be kind of National Council that is formed that will represent all the political parties that have been represented since 1986," Mahdi said.