KHARTOUM, 7 July 2005 — Preparations were under way yesterday to welcome former southern rebel leader John Garang back to Khartoum following a key January peace accord with the Sudanese government. Meanwhile, the Sudanese Parliament unanimously adopted a new constitution for a six-year interim period provided in the deal that will start on July 9.
Garang, head of the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement, is due to arrive tomorrow on his first Khartoum visit in more than 22 years to take up his post as first vice president a day later, in line with the accord. Garang and his 200-strong delegation are to meet President Omar Bashir and a similar number of officials from the ruling National Congress Party upon arrival, SPLM spokesman Yasser Arman told reporters here.
After the meeting, the SPLM leader is expected to address a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people from north and south Sudan in the capital’s main Green Square. “It shall be the beginning of the process of normalizing relations,” said Amal Abbas, a journalist and member of a National Reception Committee, headed by popular Sudanese singer Mohammed Wardi.
In Khartoum, Sudanese lawmakers approved all provisions of the constitution which, among other things, provides for a presidential republic with Bashir staying on as ruler, Garang becoming president of South Sudan and first vice president. He replaces Ali Osman Taha who will become second vice president. The constitution was drafted by a commission, which included a majority of NCP representatives and a little less than a third from the SPLM.
