Sudanese Communists kick off convention, renew rejection for national dialogue
July 31, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) on Sunday has kicked off its sixth convention renewing its rejection for the ongoing government-led national dialogue and the political settlement.
The sixth convention is being held amid sharp divisions within the SCP following the recent decision of the party’s Central Committee to suspend and dismiss 27 leading figures.
In his address during the opening session, SCP Political Secretary Mohamed Mukhtar al-Khatib appeared to have deliberately avoided mentioning the internal differences and the reasons for the dismissal of prominent figures.
He stressed that the SCP sticks to the popular uprising as means to overthrow the regime, saying they would “continue to engage in the common struggle to restore democracy, stop the war, achieve just peace and balanced development, pay reparations and return IDPs and refugees to their original villages”.
Al-Khatib underlined that his party seeks to establish the rules of good governance and apply the principle of non-impunity, saying they would hold accountable all those who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity and bring the corrupt before justice.
He added that the SCP also seeks to hold a national constitutional conference during the four-year interim period which would follow the removal of the regime, underscoring his party’s rejection for the military coups as means to gain power.
The SCP political secretary further stressed that his party struggles to consolidate the peaceful transfer of power, accusing some political parties, which he didn’t name, of seeking hinder the popular uprising.
He pointed to several schemes for resolving the Sudanese crisis including the government-led national dialogue and the “soft landing” plan advocated by the international community.
“We absolutely reject the imperialistic settlement through soft landing because it threatens Sudan’s unity,” he said
Al-Khatib said the international community and the African Union seek to push the opposition to sign the Roadmap Agreement and join the national dialogue without giving any guarantees to meet and implement the dialogue’s requirements.
Last March, the Sudanese government signed a Roadmap Agreement for peace and dialogue proposed by the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP).
Some political parties and armed groups from the opposition umbrella “Sudan Call” and the opposition alliance of the National Consensus Forces (NCF) said they will likely sign the peace roadmap after a meeting that would be held with the chief African mediator Thabo Mbeki in Addis Ababa on August 7th.
However, some NCF parties including the SCP, Arab Ba’ath Party (ABP), the Unified Democratic Unionist Party and the Nasserite Socialist Party refuse to endorse the peace plan, saying it wouldn’t make a real change in the structure of the regime.
Al-Khatib further called on SCP leaders and cadres to work among the Sudanese people to reach the desired change and establish the national democratic state, vowing to achieve the social justice and enable the effective participation of citizens in the decision-making.
It is noteworthy that representatives from the French Communist Party, Iraqi Communist Party and South Sudanese Communist Party have attended the opening session.
Also, representatives from the Sudanese opposition parties including the National Umma Party (NUP), Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP) and the Nasserite Socialist Party (NSP) have attended the opening session while the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) didn’t participate in the session.
The sixth convention is expected to elect a Politburo and Central Committee besides naming a new political secretary.
The SCP was established in 1946 under the name of the “Anti Colonialism Front” and it was later known as the “Sudanese Movement for National Liberation” before its final name was adopted in 1956.
(ST)