Tripartite mechanism postpones dialogue after FFC-military meeting
June 11, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – The Tripartite Mechanism adjourned a meeting for the parties to the intra-Sudanese dialogue process initially scheduled for Sunday, after a meeting with the FFC on Saturday.
On Wednesday June 8, the mechanism launched the dialogue process with the participation of the military leaders and their supporters from the National Consensus groups and allies of the former regime only.
The boycott of the Forces for Freedom and Changes dashed hopes that the mechanism would bring an end to the political stalemate as the three envoys are now perceived as following military-set guidelines.
The meeting held between FFC and the military component at the Saudi embassy with the participation of the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and Saudi Ambassador on June 9, brought the mechanism to postpone the resumption of its dialogue process.
“There will be no meeting tomorrow (Sunday) as the trilateral mechanism has decided to postpone it to mull over and assess the situation in light of recent developments after the Saudi-American facilitated a meeting on Thursday,” Fadi al-Qadi UNITAM Spokesman said in an email to the Sudan Tribune.
The U.S. embassy in Khartoum said the first meeting between the two rivals meant to “exchange views on how to solve the current political crisis, as well as on a process that leads to a democratic transition”.
The mechanism issued a statement on Saturday night welcoming the meeting between the FFC and the military component without clearly announcing the postponement of the meeting on Sunday.
“The tripartite believed that cornerstone of the success of this process is the full Sudanese ownership of it and hopes this positive step served to narrow the gaps between these parties,” added the statement, stressing they would continue to urge for an inclusive approach.
In a position paper to the facilitators last May, the FFC said that the supporters of the military component from the Islamists and allies of the former regime should not take part in the first stage of the talks. The Sudanese Revolutionary Front of al-Hadi Idris also made a similar proposal but the tripartite followed the position of the military component and National Consensus of former rebel groups mainly from Darfur.
FFC, tripartite mechanism meeting
The mechanism held a meeting on Saturday with the FFC at the National Umma Party premises in Omdurman to discuss the situation after the meeting between them and the military component.
Following the meeting, Omer al Digair FFC leading member and head of the Sudanese Congress Party on Saturday said they made it clear that the coalition would not be a part of any process or platform aimed at “legitimizing the coup”.
“We said we are ready to positively deal with the trilateral mechanism to end the coup and its consequences and to restore the path of democratic transition with an inclusive authority representing all the revolution’s forces.
“We do not seek to strike a bilateral deal with the military component,” he reiterated.
He further said they called for implementing confidence-building measures to create a suitable atmosphere and accept a roadmap, which will eventually end the coup and pave the way for a civilian-led government.
He pointed out that the mechanism said that their main objective is to end the coup and asked for “more time to think about what we told them,” he said.
He repeated that the FFC seek the return the army to its barracks. He added they reject any new civilian-military partnership but want a full civilian transitional government.
(ST)