Sudan’s dialogue committee to discuss creation of PM’s post
September 25, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s dialogue body known as 7+7 committee will meet on Monday to reach an agreement on pending issues such as the creation of Prime Minister’s post and the term of the national consensus government.
Launched on 10 October 2015, the dialogue process was initially expected to wind up on 10th January. But the opposition groups have refused to join the process and called on the government to implement a number of confidence building measures aimed to create a suitable atmosphere for dialogue.
The 7+7 committee meeting to discuss 15 contentious issues in the recommendations of the national dialogue was delayed from Sunday to Monday
A member of the Quartet committee assigned to reach consensual solutions on the outstanding issues, Tadjadine Bechir Niam, said the committee met on Sunday and reached satisfying results that would strengthen the consensus on 13 of the contentious issues.
In statements to Sudan Tribune following the meeting, Niam said he and Hamid Mumtaz of the ruling National Congress Party represented the government, while the opposition is represented by Amin Banani and Mohamed al-Alem. He added their committee will submit its reports to the Committee on Contentious Issues, headed by the leading member of the Popular Congress Party, Kamal Hassan Omer.
“If the two committees fail to reach an agreement, the issues would be referred to 7+7 national dialogue committee. If no deal has been struck at this level, then the contentious matters would be referred to the National Dialogue General Assembly for voting on the 10th of October,” said Niam.
He further pointed that the main pending issues include the creation of the Prime Minister’s post, issues related to National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), term of the transitional National Consensus Government and the mechanisms to implement National Dialogue Document after the general assembly.
Niam further pointed that Presidential Assistant, Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid, will brief the meeting of the 7+7 national dialogue on Monday on the National Dialogue Document.
NATIONAL SOCIETAL DIALOGUE
In a related development, the general assembly of the national society dialogue will meet on Monday to hand its final document to President Omer al-Bashir. The document would be aligned with the recommendations of the political dialogue.
Some forces of the national dialogue have expressed reservations saying they would not accept the outcome the national societal dialogue which was announced by President al-Bashir before launching the national dialogue in January 2014.
According to the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA), the national societal dialogue document has covered 11 sectors that include identity, equipments of national consensus and mechanisms of popular participation.
(ST)