Intra-Sudanese dialogue suspended as facilitators try to convince holdout groups
June 8, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – The trilateral mechanism to resolve the crisis in Sudan on Wednesday night suspended direct dialogue meetings until next Sunday, with the hope to convince the holdout Force for Freedom and Change (FFC) groups to join the process.
The opening session of the dialogue conference was attended by the military component, Sudanese Revolutionary Front( SRF), the National Consensus coalition of the former rebel groups that supported the coup d’état, the Islamist Popular Congress Party (PCP), and some other groups allied with the former regime such as Sudan Renaissance Alliance of Tijani al-Sisi gathered the military.
The SRF which is part of the military-led government and the PCP were the only political formations that voiced their opposition to the coup. The PCP, also, stressed that the military component bears the responsibility for the killing of the protesters.
The anti-coup groups mainly: the FFC, the Resistance Committees, the Sudanese Communist Party and the Sudanese Professional Association were not present at the negotiating table.
The three facilitators said the meeting discussed technical procedures and an agenda of the intra-Sudanese dialogue to restore the civilian-led democratic transition.
“There were serious discussions on rules of procedures, the format of talks on substantive issues, and for the establishment of a national body of respected Sudanese figures to supervise the political talks and work closely with the Trilateral Mechanism in facilitating the process,” said the mechanism.
They further mentioned the absence of the anti-coup groups saying they are “major stakeholders” in the political process.
“The process will not be meaningful without their participation. We will continue to engage them to secure their participation,” added the statement.
Late in the evening, Volker Perthes, UNITAMS head, told reporters the suspension of the direct dialogue meetings until next Sunday, saying they would intensify contacts with the pro-democracy camp.
FFC declined to meet facilitators
An FFC official told the Sudan Tribune that they declined to meet the facilitators on Thursday.
Sharif Mohamed Osman confirmed to the Sudan Tribune that the FFC Executive Council on Wednesday evening held a meeting to assess the direct dialogue meeting facilitated by the tripartite mechanism.
“We all agreed to not participating in any political process that does not have the right methodology to clearly identify the parties to the crisis,” he said.
The FFC groups say the dialogue, at this stage, should be between the FFC, peace groups and the military component. Later on, the process will be extended to include the other political groups. But the military insisted that the pro-military groups from the former regime should be part of the first stage and allowed to participate in the transitional government.
The FFC “received an invitation from the Mechanism for a meeting on Thursday, but we declined because there is a need for further internal consultations with the rest of the (FFC) components that are not represented in the Executive Council,” Osman added.
He further underscored the commitment of the coalition to the political process and their vision of ending the coup and restoring the democratic transition.
Osman underscored that the coup camp was under considerable popular pressure from the revolutionary forces and pro-democracy Sudanese, “so the putschists have no choice but to obey the people’s order,” he said.