“Sudan Call” new structure keeps pace with recent developments in Sudan: Arman
April 24, 2016 (PARIS) – Secretary General of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) Yasir Arman said the meeting of the “Sudan Call” alliance has approved an organizational structure that accommodates opposition work inside Sudan and abroad.
He told Sudan Tribune that the new structure includes a presidential coordination council besides two executive offices inside Sudan and abroad, saying the heads of council and the offices are yet to be named.
The Paris meeting had discussed a proposal to name the chairman of the National Consensus Forces (NCF) Farouk Abu Issa as head of the “Sudan Call” inside Sudan to lead the mass action, while naming the leader of the National Umma Party (NUP) al-Sadiq al-Mahdi as head of the alliance abroad to lead the negotiations and diplomatic work.
Arman pointed that the meeting refused to join the government-led dialogue by signing the Roadmap Agreement which was proposed by the African mediation, saying the “Sudan Call” forces expressed readiness to engage in an equal and productive dialogue that respects the will of both sides.
Last March, the Sudanese government signed a roadmap for peace in the country brokered by the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP). However, the “Sudan Call” groups, Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), NUP, SPLM-N, and Sudan Liberation Movement-Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) refused the roadmap saying it would lead to reproduce the regime.
The Paris meeting has reiterated the opposition demand to hold a serious and comprehensive national dialogue and accused the AUHIP chair, Thabo Mbeki, of siding with the Sudanese government and circumventing recommendations of the AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) in its 539th meeting in August 2015 to hold a preparatory meeting to discuss the procedural matters of the dialogue.
Arman added that the Paris meeting was held following an unprecedented defeat of the government army at the hands of the SPLM-N forces in South Kordofan and Blue Nile. He said the failure of the government summer campaign has shattered the regime’s dream to end the war militarily.
South Kordofan and neighbouring Blue Nile state have been the scene of violent conflict between the SPLM-N and Sudanese army since 2011.
Following the failure of an informal meeting in Berlin in February 2016, the Sudanese army intensified its ground and aerial attacks against rebel positions, saying the summer military campaign would bring the rebellion to an end.
The final communiqué of Paris meeting pointed that armed groups of the “Sudan Call” has announced a six month unilateral cessation of hostilities for humanitarian reasons.
The SPLM-N secretary general further said that the regime is facing huge mass pressures and severe economic crisis, pointing that the domestic circumstances enabled the Paris meeting to achieve consensus among the alliance members to stick to the popular uprising as the major mechanism to topple the regime.
The “Sudan Call”, which was established in Addis Ababa on 3 December 2014, includes the NUP and rebel umbrella of Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) except the SLM-AW, the NCF and the Civil Society Initiative (CSI).
(ST)