Sudan’s dialogue opposition forces reject Addis Ababa meeting
March 26, 205 (KHARTOUM) – The opposition forces participating in the national dialogue on Thursday decided to boycott a preparatory meeting organised by the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) to discuss the process and procedures of the internal process.
However, the Sudanese information minister Ahmed Balal Osman said they tasked the government to demand the AU mediators to extend its invitation to all the political parties members of the national dialogue committee from the two sides.
The seven opposition parties participating in the national dialogue coordination mechanism known as (7+7) issued a joint statement saying they refuse to participate in the AUHIP brokered meeting because it paves the way for foreign intervention in the process.
The draft agenda of the preparatory meeting proposed by the AUHIP seeks to establish an alternative process to the internal dialogue and its full cancellation in term of subjects and people, said the statement following a meeting held at the premises of the Popular Congress Party (PCP).
“We welcome a meeting that facilitates the participation of the others through procedural arrangements to stop the war, open humanitarian access, provide guarantees for rebel leaders, release of political detainees,” stressed the PCP-led political bloc.
The African Union mediation panel, on Friday 23 March, invited the NCP, the PCP and the Sudan Call forces represented by the Sudanese Revolutionary Front and the National Umma Party to meet on 29-30 March in Addis Ababa.
“The purpose is for representatives of all concerned Sudanese to come together and discuss procedural issues necessary for a genuine National Dialogue to take place,” said the invitation letter extended by AUHIP.
While the NCP and Sudan Call forces didn’t issue any official comment on the invitation, the PCP was the first to decline participating in the meeting, saying the position is based on its rejection of any external involvement in the process.
The preparatory meeting was projected to be held after a cessation of hostilities agreement between the government and rebel groups, but the failure of the talks on this regard between the warring parties pushed to advance the political meeting.
On Thursday, the secretary general of the national government parties council, Aboud Jabir Sa’id told the semi-official Sudanese Media Center they refuse to hold the dialogue abroad, stressing they want it to be organised inside the country without external tutelage.
(ST)