Garang calls for revamp of opposition NDA

The leader of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M), John Garang, on Friday called for a shake-up of the opposition umbrella National Democratic Alliance (NDA). He claimed its future and that of Sudan could hinge on decisions taken at the current meeting of the NDA leadership in the Eritrean capital Asmara. Garang said the current organisation of the NDA was “paralysing” its decision-making. It must “revamp and revitalise” to exploit divisions in Khartoum as a result of the Bashir-Turabi power struggle, AFP reported. The SPLM is the largest of eight opposition groups in the NDA coalition, a grouping perceived to have been weakened by Sadeq al-Mahdi’s Umma Party having held its own bilateral negotiations with the government.