Sudanese president to chair second national dialogue roundtable on Sunday
October 13, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The national dialogue committee known as 7+7 has said the Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir will chair the second political roundtable meeting of the national dialogue on Sunday with the participation of 83 political parties.
On January 27, Bashir called upon opposition parties to engage in a comprehensive dialogue to discuss issues of governance, national identity, economy and foreign relations.
Several opposition parties including the Popular Congress Party (PCP) led by Hassan al-Turabi, the Reform Now Movement (RNM) led by Ghazi Salah al-Din Attabani and the National Umma Party (NUP) led by al-Sadiq al-Mahdi agreed to participate in the dialogue before the latter decided to suspend its participation following detention of its leader.
The opposition alliance of the National Consensus Forces (NCF), gathering mainly leftist parties and the rebel umbrella organization of the Sudan Revolutionary Force (SRF) refused to engage in the dialogue citing the need to end the war, create an environment conducive for dialogue and form a transitional government.
On Saturday, the RNM accused the National Congress Party (NCP)-led government of deliberately delaying the dialogue with the intent to hold the general elections before the political process.
Hassan Rizq, the RNM deputy chairman and member of the 7+7 committee said there is a deliberate delay of the national dialogue which leads practically to postpone the national dialogue until the conduct of the elections scheduled for April 2015.
The NCP and the National Elections Commission (NEC) refuse to postpone the election saying no one has the right to delay it.
The NCP delegate in the 7+7 committee, Mustafa Osman Ismail, said the committee held an abrupt meeting on Monday to accelerate the pace of the national dialogue, pointing they agreed to meet with Bashir on Thursday to provide him with a comprehensive report on the national dialogue process and the difficulties it encountered.
He stressed the all-party roundtable meeting will be held on Sunday to discuss the roadmap for national dialogue and Addis Ababa framework agreement besides expanding the 7+7 committee’s mandate.
The member of the 7+7 committee from the Justice Party (JP), Bushara Guma’a, said the national dialogue subcommittee for external liaison will meet with the armed groups for the second time without setting date and venue of the upcoming meeting.
Last month, Paris Declaration signatories comprised of the SRF and the NUP on one side and the national dialogue subcommittee for external liaison inked an agreement on national dialogue and constitutional process in Addis Ababa last week under the auspices of the African Union mediation.
Guma’a pointed to ongoing contacts between the 7+7 committee and political parties which refused to join the dialogue particularly the leader of the NUP, predicting they will participate in the upcoming political roundtable meeting.
“All [opposition] parties and movements [armed groups] agreed [to attend the roundtable] except Abdel-Wahid [leader of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement] but God willing he will also attend [the roundtable] ,” he added.
PARLIAMENT DELAYS SESSION
The speaker of the Sudanese parliament, al-Fatih Izz al-Din, on Monday announced postponement of the tenth session of the National Assembly until completion of the national dialogue.
He pointed in press statements to major changes in the political scene due to national dialogue, saying it will develop the general vision on Sudan’s future.
Izz al-Din predicted that new ideas for the future of governance in Sudan will be laid out during the dialogue process; underscoring dialogue will produce new approach to deal with Sudan’s issues and problems.
He expressed hope that dialogue will result in a larger participation in the coming election, pointing to the need for creating conducive environment which encourages political forces to take part in the election.
The speaker further expressed the National Assembly readiness to deal with these changes, emphasizing the current political mobility would serve the country’s interests.
He expected that the president’s speech in the opening of the tenth session, which will likely take place on 30 October, will tackle all changes the country has witnessed during the previous period.
(ST)