Sudan’s dialogue opposition forces establish new alliance

February 16, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s opposition parties which suspended participation in the government-led national dialogue decided to form a new alliance under the name of the National Alliance for Change (NAC).

Last month, several political parties including the Reform Now Movement (RNM) led by Ghazi Salah al-Din and the Just Peace Forum (JPF) led by al-Tayeb Mustafa and the Alliance of the Peoples’ Working Forces (APWF) announced they had decided to suspend participation in the national dialogue until the requirements of a conducive environment are met.

The new alliance will include RNM and the JPF and other political forces including splinter factions from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

They stressed in a joint statement their commitment to peaceful transformation of power and constitutional and legal rights of all political parties besides adherence to the democratic principles which ensure public freedoms and establish the state of institutions and separation of powers.

The statement stressed the need for “ fair competition that is consistent with political work ethics stemming from the nation’s religion, traditions and customs away from fraud and deception”.

It said the new alliance was based on several political agreements including the “New Dawn” charter, “Paris Declaration”, Addis Ababa agreement, Tayba charter and the “Sudan Call” charter, noting they seek to engage in a joint dialogue with political and youth forces to arrive at a national vision to resolve Sudan’s problems.

The statement emphasized the new alliance seeks to achieve a comprehensive change which stops the war and achieves peace and democracy besides uniting opposition forces and supporting popular movement through all peaceful means.

It pointed out that the new alliance will seek to coordinate with political parties, civil society organizations and trade unions to achieve change, saying it will also reach out to regional and international rights organizations.

The new alliance underscored that it won’t participate in any elections unless a comprehensive political solution which leads to a true democratic transformation and a transitional government is being achieved.

The statement further called for allowing public freedoms, ending the war, releasing political detainees and convicts, establishing transitional government, making constitutional amendments, holding elections and applying transitional justice.

Sudan Tribune recalls that the opposition alliance of the National Consensus Forces (NCF) which gathers mainly center-left, and leftist parties is Sudan’s major internal opposition force.

Sudan’s president Omer Hassan al-Bashir launched the national dialogue initiative a year ago in which he urged opposition parties and rebels alike to join the dialogue table to discuss all the pressing issues.

But the initiative faced serious setbacks after rebel groups and NCF refused to join and after the National Umma Party (NUP) led by al-Sadiq al-Mahdi withdrew from the process in protest of al-Mahdi’s brief arrest last May.

(ST)