And it provides that there shall be no official discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, gender or faith. Indeed, this Constitution also allows the formation of political parties, thereby reversing the ban on parties introduced by the Government in 1989.2 When passed by parliament, the constitution will be put to the Sudanese people for approval. The Southern government envisaged in the 1997 Peace Agreement is already in place and is headed by Dr Machar. It may be that this Peace Agreement is not perfect in all its details. And yet, Dr Garang, you have refused to come into the peace negotiations.
Fighting continues in parts of southern Sudan.
Your forces continue to earn a bad name in the international media, with reports of systematic human rights violations. It is unclear why you continue to sacrifice the lives of young Sudanese men and women. Your agenda would appear to change from month to month. All the demands made by southern Sudanese of past Sudanese governments, and for which you ostensibly have been fighting, are now realities. There is a federated Sudan, with extensive decentralisation of powers.