Prime Minister, 6 January, 1954 - 7 July, 1956
President, 8 July, 1965 - 25 May, 1969
Ismail Al-Azhari - 1902 - 1969 - A
sudanese political leader. Born into a prominent family,
Al-Azhari became president of the Sudan's first
political organization, the Graduates General Congress
in 1940, and then President of the National
Unionist Party (NUP) in 1952.
His opposition to British rule and support of
unification with Egypt brought him national attention.
As Prime minister (1954 - 1956), however, he led
the Sudan to complete and separate independence in January
1956. Factionalism within his ruling party cost him
his leadership role, and he was the opposition leader
from 1956 to 1958.
Following a six year period of military rule, of El
Ferik Ibrahim Abboud regime, he was appointed president (1965),
but was overthrown in a military coup in May 1969,
by Gaafar Al-Numeiry. He died in 1969 while in custody.
INDEPENDENT
SUDAN
The Azhari government temporarily halted
progress toward self-determination for Sudan, hoping to
promote unity with Egypt. Although his pro-Egyptian NUP
had won a majority in the 1953 parliamentary elections,
Azhari realized that popular opinion had shifted against
union with Egypt. As a result, Azhari, who had been the
major spokesman for the "unity of the Nile
Valley," reversed the NUP's stand and supported
Sudanese independence. On December 19, 1955, the
Sudanese parliament, under Azhari's leadership,
unanimously adopted a declaration of independence; on
January 1, 1956, Sudan became an independent republic.
Azhari called for the withdrawal of foreign troops and
requested the condominium powers to sponsor a plebiscite
in advance of the scheduled date.
The
Politics of Independence
Sudan achieved independence without the
rival political parties having agreed on the form and
content of a permanent constitution. Instead, the
Constituent Assembly adopted a document known as the
Transitional Constitution, which replaced the governor
general as head of state with a five-member Supreme
Commission that was elected by a parliament composed of
an indirectly elected Senate and a popularly elected
House of Representatives. The Transitional Constitution
also allocated executive power to the prime minister,
who was nominated by the House of Representatives and
confirmed in office by the Supreme Commission.
Although it achieved independence
without conflict, Sudan inherited many problems from the
condominium. Chief among these was the status of the
civil service. The government placed Sudanese in the
administration and provided compensation and pensions
for British officers of the Sudan Political Service who
left the country; it retained those who could not be
replaced, mostly technicians and teachers. Khartoum
achieved this transformation quickly and with a minimum
of turbulence, although southerners resented the
replacement of British administrators in the south with
northern Sudanese. To advance their interests, many
southern leaders concentrated their efforts in Khartoum,
where they hoped to win constitutional concessions.
Although determined to resist what they perceived to be
Arab imperialism, they were opposed to violence. Most
southern representatives supported provincial autonomy
and warned that failure to win legal concessions would
drive the south to rebellion.
The parliamentary regime introduced
plans to expand the country's education, economic, and
transportation sectors. To achieve these goals, Khartoum
needed foreign economic and technical assistance, to
which the United States made an early commitment.
Conversations between the two governments had begun in
mid-1957, and the parliament ratified a United States
aid agreement in July 1958. Washington hoped this
agreement would reduce Sudan's excessive reliance on a
one-crop (cotton) economy and would facilitate the
development of the country's transportation and
communications infrastructure.
The prime minister formed a coalition
government in February 1956, but he alienated the
Khatmiyyah by supporting increasingly secular government
policies. In June some Khatmiyyah members who had
defected from the NUP established the People's
Democratic Party (PDP) under Mirghani's leadership. The
Umma and the PDP combined in parliament to bring down
the Azhari government. With support from the two parties
and backing from the Ansar and the Khatmiyyah, Abd Allah
Khalil put together a coalition government.
Major issues confronting Khalil's
coalition government included winning agreement on a
permanent constitution, stabilizing the south,
encouraging economic development, and improving
relations with Egypt. Strains within the Umma-PDP
coalition hampered the government's ability to make
progress on these matters. The Umma, for example, wanted
the proposed constitution to institute a presidential
form of government on the assumption that Abd ar Rahman
al Mahdi would be elected the first president. Consensus
was lacking about the country's economic future. A poor
cotton harvest followed the 1957 bumper cotton crop,
which Sudan had been unable to sell at a good price in a
glutted market. This downturn depleted Sudan's reserves
and caused unrest over government-imposed economic
restrictions. To overcome these problems and finance
future development projects, the Umma called for greater
reliance on foreign aid. The PDP, however, objected to
this strategy because it promoted unacceptable foreign
influence in Sudan. The PDP's philosophy reflected the
Arab nationalism espoused by Gamal Abdul Nasser, who had
replaced Egyptian leader Naguib in 1954. Despite these
policy differences, the Umma-PDP coalition lasted for
the remaining year of the parliament's tenure. Moreover,
after the parliament adjourned, the two parties promised
to maintain a common front for the 1958 elections.
The electorate gave a plurality in both
houses to the Umma and an overall majority to the
Umma-PDP coalition. The NUP, however, won nearly
one-quarter of the seats, largely from urban centers and
from Gezira Scheme agricultural workers. In the south,
the vote represented a rejection of the men who had
cooperated with the government--voters defeated all
three southerners in the preelection cabinet--and a
victory for advocates of autonomy within a federal
system. Resentment against the government's taking over
mission schools and against the measures used in
suppressing the 1955 mutiny contributed to the election
of several candidates who had been implicated in the
rebellion.
After the new parliament convened,
Khalil again formed an Umma-PDP coalition government.
Unfortunately, factionalism, corruption, and vote fraud
dominated parliamentary deliberations at a time when the
country needed decisive action with regard to the
proposed constitution and the future of the south. As a
result, the Umma-PDP coalition failed to exercise
effective leadership.
Another issue that divided the
parliament concerned SudaneseUnited States relations. In
March 1958, Khalil signed a technical assistance
agreement with the United States. When he presented the
pact to parliament for ratification, he discovered that
the NUP wanted to use the issue to defeat the Umma-PDP
coalition and that many PDP delegates opposed the
agreement. Nevertheless, the Umma, with the support of
some PDP and southern delegates, managed to obtain
approval of the agreement.
Factionalism and bribery in parliament,
coupled with the government's inability to resolve
Sudan's many social, political, and economic problems,
increased popular disillusion with democratic
government. Specific complaints included Khartoum's
decision to sell cotton at a price above world market
prices. This policy resulted in low sales of cotton, the
commodity from which Sudan derived most of its income.
Restrictions on imports imposed to take pressure off
depleted foreign exchange reserves caused consternation
among town dwellers who had become accustomed to buying
foreign goods. Moreover, rural northerners also suffered
from an embargo that Egypt placed on imports of cattle,
camels, and dates from Sudan. Growing popular discontent
caused many antigovernment demonstrations in Khartoum.
Egypt also criticized Khalil and suggested that it might
support a coup against his government. Meanwhile,
reports circulated in Khartoum that the Umma and the NUP
were near agreement on a new coalition that would
exclude the PDP and Khalil.
On November 17, 1958, the day parliament
was to convene, a military coup occurred. Khalil,
himself a retired army general, planned the preemptive
coup in conjunction with leading Umma members and the
army's two senior generals, Ibrahim Abbud and Ahmad Abd
al Wahab, who became leaders of the military regime.
Abbud immediately pledged to resolve all disputes with
Egypt, including the long-standing problem of the status
of the Nile River. Abbud abandoned the previous
government's unrealistic policies regarding the sale of
cotton. He also appointed a constitutional commission,
headed by the chief justice, to draft a permanent
constitution. Abbud maintained, however, that political
parties only served as vehicles for personal ambitions
and that they would not be reestablished when civilian
rule was restored.
The Sudanese peace initiative 1988
Preamble
Inspired
by the deep understanding of the suffering of the
Sudanese masses who are yearning for genuine peace and
stability;
committed
to the unity of the people and territorial integrity of
our country;
Rejecting
the old practices that aim at escalating the war,
destruction and deprivation in all forms, such policies
that will ultimately lead to disunity;
Resolute
in the necessity of persistent efforts to consolidate
and enrich the democratic practices within the beloved
Sudan.
Convicted
that genuine peace in Sudan cannot be attained in the
context of the so-called "Southern Problem"
but on the appreciation that the problem is national in
nature and hence, its resolution is only possible
through a serious sincere and continuous dialogue among
the Sudanese political forces on an equal basis in the
proposed National Constitutional Conference.
Now
therefore, the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement and
the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army SPLM/SPLA and the
Democratic Unionist Party DUP, after frank and sincere
discussions and exchange of views at this critical
juncture in our country’s history, hereby agree to
conclude this agreement.
A
- Cognizant of the fact that the convening of the
National Constitutional Conference is an urgent national
necessity that demands of all the Sudanese Political
forces sincere and persistent efforts to bring
about a conductive atmosphere for the convening of the
conference, the two parties are totally convinced that
the basic and necessary prerequisites to create this
conductive atmosphere are:
1
- Although the firm stand of the SPLM/SPLA remains
the repeal of the September 1983 Laws and to be replaced
by the 1974 laws, it nevertheless, and because of its
keenness on the convening of the National Constitutional
Conference has at this stage agreed with the DUP that in
the period preceding the convening of the National
Constitutional Conference all the provisions involving
the "hodoud" and related articles that are
contained in the September 1983 Laws be frozen and that
there shall be no legislation on any laws that contain
such articles until the National Constitutional
Conference is held and final agreement is reached on the
alternative laws.
2
- The abrogation of the military pacts concluded
between Sudan and other countries and which impinge on
Sudan’s National sovereignty.
3
- The lifting of the state of emergency.
4
- Cease fire.
B
- A national preparatory committee shall be
convened to agree on the draft agenda, place and
procedures of holding the National Constitutional
Conference. The first meeting of this committee shall
take place soon after its formation.
C
- The two parties have agreed that the venue of
the National Constitutional Conference shall be at a
place agreed upon by the national preparatory committee
where security is guaranteed to the satisfaction of all
parties concerned.
D
- The two parties have agreed on the necessity of
holding the National Constitutional Conference by the
31st December 1988 provided that the prerequisites
mentioned in this agreement would have been implemented
to the satisfaction of the parties concerned.
E
- The two parties call upon all the Sudanese
political forces to bring about peace and stability in
our country.
Signed
this day the 6th of November 1988 in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia.
ElSayid
Mohamed Osman ElMirghani,
Leader of the Democratic Unionist party DUP.
Dr. John
Garang de Mabior
Chairman of Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement and
Commander-in-Chief of Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army.
SPLM/A
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