Sudan’s 7+7 mechanism considers AUPSC decision supporting pre-dialogue meeting
September 1, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The national dialogue coordination committee (7+7) on Tuesday formed an ad hoc committee to mull over a decision of the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) in favour of holding a pre-dialogue meeting outside the country.
At the same time, the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) renewed its rejection for this preparatory meeting and accused AUPSC’s diplomats of lacking neutrality by holding a meeting with the holdout opposition parties.
Speaking after a meeting of the dialogue mechanism on Tuesday, the head NCP political sector Mustafa Osman Ismail told reporters that the 7+7 committee formed a panel to study the recent activities of peace and security body and its decision backing the opposition demand for the pre-dialogue meeting.
Ismail further said they demanded the ad hoc team to submit its findings within 48 hours pointing that its report will be deliberated in a meeting to held on Sunday.
President Omer al-Bashir, since last Sunday, has categorically rejected the AUPSC’s decision supporting the organization of a meeting at the African Union headquarters to discuss matters related to the internal political process.
Before to take this decision, the 15-member body organized a hearing for the opposition “Sudan Call” forces on 24 August 2015. In Khartoum; the government immediately condemned this “outrageous” initiative by the inter governmental regional organization and declared its refusal for any foreign involvement in the process.
Initially in September 2014, the NCP accepted to take part in the meeting which will be brokered by the AU High Level Implementation Panel of chaired by Thabo Mbeki. In March 2015 the government refused participate in the meeting, insisting it was not appropriate to hold it two week before the general elections.
Only the opposition Popular Congress Party (PCP) of Hassan al-Turabi declined the invitation for the pore-dialogue meeting when they received it last March.
PCP political secretary and its representative at the dialogue boy, in statements to the press after the meeting reiterated their rejection for Addis Ababa’s meeting saying “the transfer of dialogue out of Sudan is next to impossible”.
“The dialogue is an inter-Sudanese process. We will not accept moving it to outside the country and we do not accept the any tutelage from anybody. We are ready to accept all people and to hear all views,” added Kamal Omer.
In separate statements after a meeting of the national unity government parties on Tuesday, Ismail directed his criticism to “some ambassadors” of the peace and security body and accused them of partiality and taking the side of the opposition.
The (Sudanese) people will not accept that three parties impose to hold the dialogue outside the Sudan,” he added.
NCP political secretary Hamid Mumtaz who attended the meeting went to say all the political forces inside the country agree in their rejection of the transfer of the political process to outside the country.
“It is not necessary that the armed groups and holdout parties trust the government. The government extended them an invitation, decided a ceasefire and provided guarantees,” he said.
Mumtaz was referring to the topics that the parties should discuss at the pre-dialogue meeting.
The National Umma Party (NUP) and the SPLM-N recently said they are willing to join the dialogue process inside the country but stressed on the need to hold a two-day meeting to agree on “procedural matters relating to the Dialogue”.
(ST)