Military component directed tripartite mechanism not to deal with newly formed coalition: Minnawi
November 28, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – Minni Minnawi, political secretary of the Democratic Bloc said that the military component directed the tripartite facilitation mechanism not to involve his coalition in the ongoing consultations to end the political crisis in Sudan.
The Democratic Bloc rejected the draft transitional constitution made by the Sudanese Bar Association (SBA) and proposed to maintain the constitutional declaration signed in August 2019.
Despite their support for the October 25, 2021 coup, the military component ignored their proposal and endorsed the SBA’s document joining the majority of the political forces. The coup leaders also are engaged in talks with the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) over the draft constitution.
Following a meeting of the Democratic Bloc political committee of their coalition on Monday evening, Minnawi held a press conference where he complained that their proposal to align the two constitutional proposals has been ignored by the stakeholders and the facilitation panel.
“We learned that the military component directed the Trilateral Mechanism not to deal with the Bloc and to limit its meetings to the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement. This is unacceptable to us,” he stated.
He further called on the tripartite mechanism, which is a regional and international body, not to comply with the injunctions of any party.
“We invite them to meet with us during the coming hours,” hMinnawi stressed.
Minnawi recently called on the tripartite mechanism to align the two constitutional proposals before taking part in any process to end the political stalemate.
On Sunday, the signatories to the constitutional framework and political declaration including the FFC groups, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) faction led by Alhassan al-Mirghani, Popular Congress Party (PSP), the Republican Party, and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front held a meeting with the three envoys of the AU, IGAD, and UNITAMS.
The civilian forces said they formed a committee to discuss with the military leaders the proposals they have made to amend the SBA draft constitution.
It is worth mentioning that several signatories have made observations or formulated proposals to amend the endorsed draft constitution.
The political secretary of the Democratic Bloc said they dispatched a delegation to Addis Ababa to brief the African Union and IGAD on their position. Also, they will hold meetings with foreign diplomats to Sudan.
Minnawi expressed fears that the expected political settlement would affect the Juba Peace Agreement and impede the implementation of security arrangements.
“The security and military sector has become a tool for killing and displacement, and if it is not reformed, it will be a backlash on Sudan’s stability,” he asserted.
The SLM-MM and JEM of Gibril Ibrahim called for the coup and applauded when the military evicted their rivals of the FFC groups.
However, they recently increased their criticism of the coup leaders because they accepted to negotiate a political settlement paving the way for the implementation of needed reforms before holding a general election.
(ST)