The Press SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 1948. The Sudan

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25394, 17 January 1948, Page 6

The Press SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 1948. The Sudan

The new proposals which have now been worked out, according to the political correspondent of the “ Daily Herald ”, for constitutional ■ reform in the Sudan are apparently more liberal than those put forward by the Sudan Administration Conference in August. The correspondent says they seem to go “ some way ” to meet Egypt’s objections to the August proposals. They could well do so, for some of the amendments which Egypt suggested were moderate enough and would usefully and not embarrassingly widen the responsibilities of the Sudanese in their new association with the government of their country. Others, however, took such small account of practical realities that they could only make the new constitution unworkable and, indeed, make Egypt’s hand heavier on the Sudan. The original proposals, briefly, were that a Legislative Assembly of 60 elected and 10 nominated members, with an Executive Council on which the Sudanese should have at least half the seats, should displace the Northern Advisory Council, now the only authoritative Sudanese body, and the Governor-General’s Council. Full power of veto and power to resolve disagreements between the Legislative Assembly and the Executive Council were to remain with the Governor-General; and for a three-year trial period the assembly’s power was to be limited to debating legislation initiated by the council. Though the cast of these, proposals may suggest that too much has been made of the Sudanese lack of administrators and legislators, they presented the Egyptians with a way out of an awkward problem. They had either, as the “ Economist ” has suggested, to show themselves opposed to Sudanese development or else to agree to measures which would strengthen the anti-Egyptian Independence Party (the Umma). Their way out was to accept the principle of Sudanese self-government, propose some reasonable and more liberal measures to achieve it and then some more which would prevent it from working satisfactorily. One of their reasonable proposals, i which would help to encourage a sense of responsibility among the Sudanese, was that the Legislative Assembly’s powers should be extended to allow it to suspend legislation for one session, if it did not approve; but alongside that the Egyptians proposed that the Gov-ernor-General’s powers should be curtailed and that all legislation should be submitt&d to the British and Egyptian Governments for approval—which could only, as the “ Economist ” said, strangle efficient administration, discredit the Legislative Assembly’s authority, and tighten foreign control over the country. Other amendments the Egyptians insisted on provided for full electoral rights for all Sudanese, regardless of education or political development; Egyptian representation on the Executive Council; and complete control of the budget by the Legislative Assembly. The proposals that have now been worked out will be considered by the Sudan Advisory Council in March and submitted later to the British and Egyptian Governments. If they do not bring complete Brit-ish-Egyptian agreement, it is to be hoped they will bring agreement on enough points to permit at least a first instalment of constitutional reform. Further delay may well tempt the Independence Party to take matters into its own hands; and a premature attempt to set up a government could benefit no one, least of all the Sudanese.