Sudanese rebels seek to transform SRF alliance into one party

November 24, 2013 (PARIS) – The forces of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) are working to unify themselves to and to transform their alliance into a political party, the alliance’s deputy leader said on Sunday.

Speaking in a meeting with the Sudanese community in Paris, the SRF deputy chairman for external relations Gibril Ibrahim said their European tour achieved its diplomatic objective as they were seeking to show their unity and the SRF’s credibility to rule the country .

Ibrahim said they confirmed that the unity of the Revolutionary Front “is not formal or symbolic but real”, stressing they do not only want to overthrow the regime but also look towards the future with a common project that none of the SRF components can implement it alone.

“So, we seek to transform the Revolutionary Front into a majority party in Sudan and we extend our hands to all the political parties and civil society groups to join us”, said Ibrahim who chairs the Justice and Equality Movement.

He referred to their previous attempt in January 2013 to set up a joint platform with opposition parties in Kampala, saying all the opposition parties were fully aware of the content of the New Dawn charter, adding however they understand the conditions that pushed some of them to pull back from the project.

After the signing of the charter, the leadership of the Sudanese opposition parties in Khartoum at the time said they disagree with the rebels over the use of arms to topple the regime. The Umma National Party and the Popular Congress Party also said they have reserves towards the separation between politics and religion as well as the dissolution of the army among others.

However, recently opposition parties who distanced themselves from the Umma party said they are willing to resume discussions with the SRF groups in order to bridge their differences between. But they reiterated their commitment to peaceful means to overthrow the regime.

Yasir Arman, SRF secretary for external relations, said the alliance agreed in the new structures they are preparing to allocate 10% of the seats to the independent elements who do not belong to any existing political force.

The SRF delegation will travel on Monday to Geneva where they plan to meet with the officials in the Switzerland’s foreign ministry, parliamentarians and civil society groups.

The alliance leader Malik Agar returned to the Sudan, the delegation announced.

Since more than a week, the Sudanese rebels visited France, Germany, Finland, Italy, Belgium, and Netherlands. They further met the EU commission and parliament, and paid a visit to the International Criminal Court.

The alliance demanded aux different governments and legislators to diplomatically and politically support their call for a comprehensive process leading to the settlement of the regional conflicts and the reestablishment of a democratic regime in Sudan.

They propose that the opposition parties be involved in the holistic process and the transitional government before to hold general elections in the country after the adoption of a new constitution.

(ST)