JUBA: Peace talks between the transitional government of Sudan and a rebel group in the south of the country have stumbled over the delegation of powers from Khartoum, the group said last week.
Talks in Juba, South Sudan, between the government and the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Sudan-North (SPLM-North) were adjourned in mid-June due to disagreements that were not specified at the time.
SPLM-North chief negotiator Amar Amon said that while many topics related to the economy, security and politics were resolved, crucial issues like the delegation of powers between the central government and the regions were not.
"Resolving these issues is part of addressing the root causes of the Sudanese problems," Amon said in an interview on Friday evening.
The SPLM-North, established in the states of Kordofan-South and Blue Nile, is pushing for a decentralised political system.
The powers wielded by the central government in Khartoum are the cause of the conflicts that have afflicted the country for more than 60 years, Amon said.
These conflicts included the war of independence with South Sudan and the recurrent violent episodes in the regions of South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur.
Another crucial issue that had not been resolved was of the integration of the country's armed groups into the Sudanese army, he said.
"We agreed that major national issues should be subjected to popular referendum in future," he said.
The interim civilian-military Sudanese government was set up after the popular revolt that led to the dismissal in April 2019 of former president Omar al Bashir, and has made peace with the rebels its priority. In October 2020, it signed a historic agreement with several rebel groups.
The SPLM-North has signed a separate ceasefire, allowing its fighters to keep their weapons "to ensure their own protection" until the constitution is amended to guarantee a secular state. No date has yet been given for the resumption of talks.
CUT ON GOVT SPENDING: Meanwhile, Sudan will cut its government spending and increase social spending, the cabinet said on Saturday, after completing a raft of rapid economic reforms this month that threaten to compound pressures on the majority of the population.
Earlier this month, Sudan fully removed subsidies on car petrol and diesel, and in February it devalued its currency and began a policy of a flexible managed float.
Last week it eliminated its customs exchange rate, used to calculate import duties, as the final step in a devaluation of its local currency.
The country will cut costs of external official trips by 50 per cent, reduce fuel quotas for government vehicles by 20 per cent, sell all surplus government vehicles and cut embassies' budgets by 25 per cent among other measures, the cabinet said on Saturday after three days of closed meetings.
The government will expand the registration of a family support project called Thamarat or Fruits to include three million families or about 15 million people within two months, it added.
Through the programme financed by the World Bank and other donors, Sudan is paying out monthly cash allowances to these families to ease economic pain. The new measures include increasing the budget of another programme that was meant to provide cheap food commodities from two billion Sudanese pounds ($4.51 million) to 10 billion pounds ($22.54 million).
The government will pay a monthly grant of 10 billion pounds to all state workers, not subject to taxes, starting from July 1. Most of the grant will be allocated to the lowest grades of workers. - Reuters
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