The new constitution; pursuing a different route

1^st vice president Taha, photo credit: Alsharq.net

In an extraordinary press conference last week, 1^st vice president Ali Osman Taha invited political opposition, including rebel groups, to join in preparing the country’s new constitution; a move seen by many as a step in the direction, provided of course the rest of the government shares the same view!

Taha went on to say that, "It is no longer possible to continue with partial solutions, and Agar and al-Hilu have as much right as any other Sudanese citizen to participate in preparing the new constitution."

One of the obstacles that may derail the process of making a new constitution, in our opinion, is the fact that some political forces tend to confuse between the concept of the constitution and a party program.

Political parties in most countries, including our own, can be liberal, national, socialist or Islamist parties guided by their programs through which they attempt to attract members in an open and democratic system, which is a natural enough political state of affairs. But what these parties may not do is to seek to convert their party’s programs into a constitution for the entire country; because a constitution is a social contract which should represent the whole of society regardless of political, ethnic, tribal or economic status and affiliation.

The constitution is a mechanism that guarantees freedom of expression and political organization, rule of law, equitable sharing of power and wealth and smooth transition of power. For these reasons it cannot represent the program of a single party and problems inevitably arise when one group tries to impose its vision on others.

 The very concept of a constitution has become tainted and many have lost faith as they now view the constitution a document not worth the paper on which it is written. This is because despotic regimes are notoriously known for stripping constitutions of their true meaning, by drafting flawless constitutions to which they fail to commit.

We are consequently faced with a situation that requires effort to raise awareness of the idea of a constitution and the need to invite universal participation to regain confidence in the document as a true social contract.

Only by surmounting these obstacles can we arrive at a minimal common denominator, so to speak, to keep this country together.