Sudan, SRF still at odds over state governors and transitional parliament
February 29, 2020 (JUBA) – The transitional government and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) have not yet reached an agreement on the state governors and the transitional parliament, according to the parties and the mediation on Friday.
However, the issue of the governors and the legislative assembly, are not part of the peace negotiations as the parties agreed to form a separate ad-hoc committee including the FFC delegates to discuss them.
Mohamed Hassan al-Taishi, spokesperson of the government negotiating delegation said on Friday that the agreed with the Darfur armed groups on 80% of the peace talks agenda.
However, he admitted that the two sides failed within the determined frame time to agree on the issues of the state governors who should be appointed during the transitional period.
“The SRF still holding on to its position, while the government spoke about the urgent need to fill the administrative void In the states and appointing civil rulers,” he further said.
Al-Taishi went further to repeat that the appointment of governors is temporary and will be reviewed once a peace agreement is signed.
The government has almost finalized the peace talks with other factions of the SRF except for Darfur region.
For the talks with Darfur groups, the two sides have not yet reached a deal over the formation of a regional entity for the whole region. Also, the file of the displaced people and refugees still on hold, because their representatives have not arrived in Jua due to technical issues.
The government and the armed groups on 14 February extended the talks for three weeks. But, the statement of the member of the Sovereign Council hints that the parties would not sign an agreement next week.
Minni Minnawi, SRF deputy chairman, in a tweet on Friday, confirmed that they did not strike a deal on the governors and the transitional parliament.
“The appointment of governors and legislative assemblies violate the Juba document,” he said.
“(Also) it is considered as unjustified escalation,” stressed the SLM leader who used to criticize openly the transitional government and the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC).
In separate statements, Dhieu Matouq the spokesperson of the South Sudanese mediation confirmed that the two sides disagree on the state governors and the transitional parliament.
In press statements after a briefing to foreign diplomats in Juba about the talks for peace in Sudan, Matouq said that the SPLM-N of Abdel Aziz al-Hilu would resume talks with the government next week.
He added that the meetings held with the rebel group by the FFC delegation which arrived recently from Khartoum have contributed to convincing them to resume talks.
It worth mentioning that Shams al-Din Kabbashi who heads the government delegation for the talks with the SPLM-N al-Hilu arrived Friday to Juba.
The SPLM-N al-Hilu says they want the government to include the secular state and self-determination in the agenda of the peace talks but the government rejects to discuss these issues during the peace talks.
(ST)