UNITAMS should focus more on transition instead of politics: Sudan’s FM
March 29, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s foreign ministry said they want UNITAMS focuses its efforts more on peace implementation and elections than politics.
In a briefing to the UN Security Council, Volker Perthes on Monday warned that the country is heading for an economic and security collapse, five months after a military coup that paused a democratic transitional process.
On the same day, the Sudanese foreign ministry stated they formed a committee that responded to the report that Perthes had submitted its response to the issues raised in this quarterly report to the Security Council earlier this month before the briefing.
The statement further said that the same committee has been tasked with preparing a series of measures to reorient UNITAMS activities.
The ministry stressed they want to mission to pay more attention to supporting issues related to the implementation of the Juba Peace Agreement, such as IDPs and refugees resettlement, and security arrangements besides the electoral process.
“Instead of concentrating most of UNITAMS’s activity on the political side only,” further stressed the statement.
After the coup, Perthes launched a process to facilitate an intra-Sudanese dialogue to settle the rift between the military and civilian components and to resume smooth implementation of the agenda of the democratic transition and peace implementation.
The military leaders had criticised the former prime minister for his request to establish the UN mission. Also, several times they voiced their suspicion about the role of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission.
On February 12, 2022, the head of the Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, openly slammed the UN envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes saying that he ignored the preparations for the elections, and is “subject to the influence of some groups” without further indications.
While the deputy head of the Sovereign Council on January 29, 2022, stressed that Perthes “should remain a facilitator, not a mediator between the parties.” referring to the UN initiative to settle the Sudanese crisis.
“The Sovereignty Council is not hostile to the (role of the) international community, but refuses to interference in the country’s internal affairs,” Hemetti underscored.
The foreign ministry said that the Executive Committee for Coordination with UNITAMS is now preparing an integrated matrix for Sudan’s demands from UNITAMS, to support the transition, adding it would be handed over soon to the UN.
(ST)