Sudan’s national dialogue will not lead to real change: SLM-MM

September 16, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The rebel Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Arku Minnawi (SLM-MM) has criticised the government-led national dialogue saying it does not mention the strategic objective of establishing a transitional government.

The SLM-MM said in a statement signed by its secretary of information, Abdullah Mursal, and received by Sudan Tribune on Tuesday that the government objective behind dialogue was to prevent popular uprising due to deteriorating living conditions and buy time to hold the 2015 elections.

It considered the national dialogue nothing but an attempt to unify the Islamists forces, saying the real Sudanese political forces are not represented in the dialogue.

The statement pointed that objectives of the current national dialogue do not include the strategic goal of reaching a transitional period which saves the country from its crises.

“The dialogue was born dead in light of the lack of freedoms, detentions, raids and egregious [human rights] violations in war zones, as well as that participants in the alleged dialogue are either sectarian parties which are part of the regime or decorative parties or Islamists parties which defected from the [ruling party] and seek to return to it through the dialogue,” it added

The SLM-MM further described the national dialogue as a “tactic” aimed at gaining time not a strategy which leads to dismantling the one-party state and establishing the Sudanese state.

It underscored commitment to deals signed by the rebel alliance of the Sudan Revolutionary Forces (SRF) recently including Paris Declaration and Addis Ababa besides previous understandings with the opposition alliance of the National Consensus Forces (NCF), saying all these agreements seek to unify opposition forces in order to achieve the desired change either peacefully or by overthrowing the regime through all means.

The statement praised steadfastness of the deputy chairman of the National Umma Party (NUP), Meriam al-Mahdi, and leader of the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP), Ibrahim al-Shiekh, saying they set a true example in the struggle against powers of evil and darkness.

In January, Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir unveiled a national dialogue initiative aimed at holding an comprehensive conference on a new constitution and ways to end the armed conflicts in the Blue Nile, South Kordofan and Darfur.

The National Umma Party (NUP) led by al-Sadiq al-Mahdi and the Reform Now Movement (RNM) led by Ghazi Salah al-Din al-Attabani suspended their participation in the national dialogue before the latter rejoined the process.

The opposition alliance of the National Consensus Forces (NCF) and the rebel alliance of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) refused to join the dialogue from the outset.

On 8 August, the NUP and SRF signed the Paris Declaration, which calls for ending the wars and engaging in a genuine national dialogue aimed at restoring democracy in Sudan.

On 5 September, the Paris Declaration forces signed a framework agreement with the national dialogue committee known as 7+7 on the national dialogue and constitutional process.

(ST)