Sudan’s dialogue body ready to meet rebels and opposition abroad: official
July 19, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – A member of the dialogue coordination body known as 7+7 has expressed readiness to hold a pre-dialogue preparatory meeting with the political forces and armed groups refusing to join the process abroad.
The panel led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki had invited parties participating in the national dialogue process launched by Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir as well as non-participants that include rebel groups.
However, the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) declined to participate in the meeting blaming the AUHIP for not extending an invitation to the 7+7 committee and saying they would not take part in such a meeting before the general elections.
Since then, the Sudanese government and the dialogue political parties insisted that dialogue must be held inside Sudan in order to avoid foreign interventions.
But the chairman of the National People’s Alliance (NPA) and co-chair of the 7+7 subcommittee for creating conducive climate for the dialogue from the opposition side, Osman Abu al-Magd, stressed that the dialogue opposition parties wouldn’t mind engaging in a consultative pre-dialogue meeting with the opposition forces and rebel groups abroad.
He said the meeting would be held within the frame work of creating conducive environment for holding the dialogue and in order to determine positions and visions to launch the dialogue, stressing the dialogue must be held inside Sudan.
Abu al-Magd said the upcoming meeting of president Bashir with the 7+7 committee would set the starting date of the dialogue, noting the dialogue’s body will submit to the president its proposed date for the beginning of the dialogue in order to approve it.
He pointed that the meeting between the leader of the Popular Congress Party (PCP) Hassan al-Turabi and the dialogue opposition parties had discussed ways for pushing forward the dialogue process and implementing its outcome, adding the dialogue committees would contact the armed groups to join the peace process.
The 7+7 member further asked the various political parties and rebel groups to abandon their narrow personal and partisan interests and come to the negotiating table to discuss all Sudan’s issues in order to achieve peace, stability and development.
Meanwhile, the PCP political secretary and member of the 7+7 committee, Kamal Omer, expected that dialogue would be resumed at the end of this month, saying all procedures pertaining to the launch of the dialogue have been completed.
He told the pro-government Ashorooq TV website that the names of the 50 national figures and conciliators of the dialogue have been determined, saying that reports of the dialogue subcommittees were also approved.
Omer stressed the need to release political detainees and convicts and offering guarantees for the rebels’ delegates who would participate in the dialogue, noting that Bashir’s address on the occasion of the Eid al-Fitr has enhanced the call for dialogue.
The 7+7 member also pointed that the previous days saw positive moves pertaining to contacts with the armed groups in order to secure their participation in the dialogue.
He renewed his party’s call for all parties refusing to engage in the dialogue, urging them to join the process in order to achieve the national consensus.
Bashir launched the national dialogue initiative in January 2014 in which he urged opposition parties and rebels alike to join the dialogue table to discuss all the pressing issues related to peace and constitutional reforms.
But the initiative faced serious setbacks after the government refusal to create suitable atmosphere by releasing political prisoners, ensuring freedoms, and postponement of elections.
RENEWAL OF THE GENERAL AMNESTY
The secretary-general of the council of the national unity government parties, Aboud Jabir, has appealed to president Bashir to renew the general amnesty for the arms bearers and exiled opposition leaders.
Jabir, who is also a member of the 7+7 committee, told the official news agency SUNA that the Sudanese people need to achieve national consensus more than ever, saying it is the only available option to resolve Sudan’s problems.
He pointed out that the comprehensive national dialogue became a reality, demanding all parties to make major concessions to serve the national interests.
The member of the dialogue coordination body further called upon the leader of the National Umma Party (NUP), Sadiq al-Mahdi, to return to the country to work with all political forces to achieve the national consensus.
The NUP leader left the country in August 2014 after a month in jail over remarks he made against the government militia known as the Rapid Support Force (RSF).
Since then he has remained abroad based in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. The Sudanese president vowed to arrest him after the signing of Paris Declaration with the Sudanese rebel groups in Paris on 8 August 2014.
Recently al-Mahdi said he intends to gather opposition forces and civil society groups in a new coalition called Future Forces. The new formation will be committed to the “Sudan Call” declaration signed with the rebel umbrella Sudanese Revolutionary Forces and the left groups of the National Consensus Forces.
Jabir called upon Bashir to renew the general amnesty for the armed bearers and external opposition, praising his recent call for resuming the dialogue and achieving the national comprehensive consensus.
He asked the dialogue coordination body to redouble its efforts to convince those boycotting the dialogue including the rebel groups and external opposition to take part in the process.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Union of the Nation’s Forces (UNF) and member of the 7+7 committee, Mohamed Abdel-Jabar, said the roadmap approved by the committee has set the foundation and created a conducive environment for the dialogue.
He saw that the call for overthrowing the regime would lead to a civil war, underscoring that his party doesn’t support regime change but seeks to complete the dialogue process in order to secure the future of the country.
(ST)