Bashir`s dialogue is nothing but adding insult and injury on Sudan`s crises
By Mahmoud A. Suleiman
It comes as no surprise that the NCP regime President Omer al-Bashir using his fake ‘national’ dialogue again after apparently felt rest assured that he has recently secured the rapprochement between his regime and the US Administration. The news media reported that the (NCP) regime President Omer al-Bashir declared that he would offer a two-month ceasefire and general amnesty to the rebel movements to participate in the National Dialogue. The reports indicated that the decision comes during the General Assembly for National Dialogue, the third meeting held on Thursday, August 20, 2015 in Khartoum. Here, people of Sudan would say to Omar al-Bashir that the one who tries out something already tried before and proved invalid is an addict par excellence. The Sudanese people ranked them with the political elite group, which became addicted to failure.
The Coordinating Supreme Committee for the National Dialogue 7 +7 of the Republic of Sudan.
The Thursday 20 August 2015 alleged National Dialogue assembly is nothing but a copycat version of its predecessor assemblies, which served nothing for adding credibility to the Wathba Dialogue.
It seems that the members of the National Congress Party met to dialogue with each other about the fate of Sudan amid the economic deterioration caused by financial corruption and nepotism and tribalism, racism and the lavish expenditure on frivolous civil wars of attrition
The members of the National Congress Party (NCP) regime met on Thursday 20 August 2015 to dialogue with each other on the unprecedented determination the economy of Sudan reached through recklessness extravagance and expenditure because of the epidemic corruption, nepotism, tribalism, racism and cost of the absurd civil wars of attrition. The so-called Supreme Coordinating Committee for National Dialogue meeting has provided the opportunity for the NCP membership to dialogue with each other over an array of issues. These issues include the destiny of their regime under the current grinding financial crisis and economic woes faced by the National Congress Party (NCP) government led by their master of grace, the Génocidaire war criminal fugitive from the international justice, Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir.
There are clear contradictions in Omer al-Bashir’s intentions behind the national dialogue. While declaring a ceasefire for two months, he has put Sudan’s armed forces (SAF) and the Janjaweed militia loyal to the security forces device (NISS) called Rapid Support Force (RSF) on alert and armed them. He has also continued the ongoing aerial bombardment of civilians in the war zones, which is part of the blatant plot to deceive the armed opposition. Meanwhile, the holdout Darfuri armed rebels groups of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) led by Dr. Gibril Ibrahim Mohammed, the Sudan Liberation Army Minni Minnawi (SLA-MM) and the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA- AW) led by Minni Arko Minnawi and Abdel Wahid Mohamed al-Nur respectively are speaking to the Acting Joint Special Representative (AJSR) of the UNAMID to discuss with them ways to reinvigorate efforts for peace in Darfur.
Omer al-Bashir who keeps acting as judge and hangman tried presenting his fake ‘national’ dialogue swindle to further mislead and cheat the parties in the dispute. The country’s crises and issues remained eluding the solutions because of the intransigence of the head of the ruling regime of the NCP Omar al-Bashir and his clique who deliberately fail to offer advice to al-Bashir but instead work to ignite the fire of the problems and increase the complexity.
Al-Bashir kept his alleged ‘fairytale’ Wathba Dialogue on hold for more than a year since he announced it in January 2014 and repeatedly delayed it to gain ample time in the face of the opposition’s imposed wait.
The dilemma and the irony is that the regime that took power by a military Coup d’état and repeatedly abrogated peace agreements it signed with parties has become impossible to trust. Thus, eternal loss of confidence in the words and promises issued by the President of the (NCP) regime Omer al-Bashir and his entourage became master of the situation.
The methods used by Omer al-Bashir and his clique to deceive the Sudanese people exceeded the borders and became offensive to the memory of the nation of Sudan and the Sudanese people. However, the nimble fiery acumen of the Sudanese people mocks at them. Moreover, the Sudanese people consider that the regime is gasping for breath and happens to be in a pathetic state. It has become the subject of contempt and mockery.
Even worse is that most of the names mentioned as national figures are originally committed members of the National Congress Party (NCP) regime. Moreover, the marathon of political parties who have allegedly attended the Wathba Dialogue are a creation of the NCP regime to give some legitimacy that was originally missing or never even existed , at best; their actual membership does not exceed the party chairperson!
Thus, the meaning of the Saying of the Holy Prophet Peace be Upon Him (PBUH) that says “a person lies and continues to lie until Almighty God writes him a liar”, literally applies on the membership of the Islamist ruling regime, the National Congress Party (NCP) in Khartoum par excellence.
The people of Sudan have become immune against the (NCP) regime’s bag of lies because the President of the ruling (NC P) Omer al-Bashir is negligible and cannot be relied upon. The Sudanese people should not believe the regime nor attach any hopes for returning benefits to them and should refrain from betting upon them. As the poem goes: “This is your era, Oh farces, when the hunting dog was considered among the knights!
Sophistry and philosophy, which one is superior upon the other these days is really a difficult question to answer.
The 2011 arbitrary National Security Act allows the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) unlimited powers of arrest and accountability, inspection and the daily appearance of the accused to the premises of the device in a humiliating manner in a blatant violation and contradiction to the clauses of the 2005 Constitution.
The tyrant Omer al-Bashir seems to have become like the Pharaoh of Egypt who underestimated his people and yet they followed him. and thus the staunch supporters of the National Congress Party (NCP) are such as the people of Pharaoh who used to see only what he sees as al-Bashir and do not listen to the lies of anyone other than the lies of al-Bashir.
As usual, al-Bashir undermined his announcement and knocked it off early on as a preemptive measure to refuse the release of prisoners of war (POWs) one of the liabilities of the opposition as a condition for agreeing to participate in the alleged national dialogue process. This is despite the constant sense of the opposition about lack of sincerity and vacuousness of the promises of Omar al-Bashir. His promises proved as free of credibility consistently over the lean 26 years he ruled Sudan with iron fist and deceit.
Furthermore, Omer al-Bashir put forwards his preconditions that the national dialogue will be inside Sudan and not abroad. The foregoing will increase the likelihood of the opposition refusing to accept engaging in dialogue and this is undoubtedly a great victory for al-Bashir and contributes to buy more time on the account of the opposition cheaply. Moreover, this would stand as an evidence for al-Bashir submitting it to the regional and the international community as a model for non-seriousness of the opposition in the peaceful settlement of the Sudanese crises. This adds to the tactical maneuvering of the dire Sudanese politics by the autocratic Génocidaire Omer al-Bashir and his entourage.
Moreover, of Omer al-Bashir’s tactics to divert the opposition components away from participating meaningfully in solving the crisis of Sudan is to create repulsive obstacles such as non-release of political prisoners and prisoners of war and restraining freedoms as well as hindering the passage of relief to citizens in the war zones. Because Omar al-Bashir continues to go solo in his power hegemony in Sudan and feel assured that the hands of the International Criminal Court will not reach him as long as he is in power. Not only that, he is protected by the loyal members of the Sudan armed forces (SAF) and as well as the Janjaweed militia, Rapid Support Force (RSF) which is fighting a proxy war against the armed opposition in lieu for public money and provided it with weapons. The regime continues ignoring the crimes committed by gangs of mercenaries against citizens even in the capital Khartoum.
Recently there are some harbingers that the opposition had agreed to the national dialogue and through it the settlement of crises of Sudan take place. The settlement in question includes the Nuba Mountains, the Blue Nile and the Darfur region. Furthermore, it is understood that the opposition agreed to the new role of the joint mission of the United Nations and the African Union – UNAMID – in the peace process as well as its role in the protection of citizens. Thus, there is a date for the meeting of the Parties in Addis Ababa shortly in this regard.
It is clear since the beginning that in no did Omer al-Bashir way consider any other option than single (NCP) rule in Sudan. All that the ruling regime of the NCP, led by President Omar al-Bashir seeks is to monopolize power forever and ever!
In view to the bitter fact that the Sudanese country of Sudan, once the largest nation in Africa size wise, has been living at war with itself since before independence from the British colonials of January 1, 1956. In fact, the first war began in the City of Torit in the then south of Sudan on August 18 1955 when Torit military garrison mutinied. The insurgency of the Torit garrison meant to deliver their voices to those responsible in Khartoum and meet their desires to improve the conditions of military camps in the south, similar to the Eastern and Northern Areas of Sudan. Further to that, the southerners demanded during the Juba Conference of a regional rule or a Regional autonomy for the southerners in the southern Sudan, but the authorities rejected their request. The Juba Conference delegates attended the conference held in June 1947 from British and Sudanese in the city of Juba, the capital of South Sudan. The apprehension of the Southerners was realized when 800 administrative posts were vacated by the British in preparation for Sudanese “self-rule” Only four of the government posts went to Southerners. In discussions to determine the future of the modern state of Sudan, the southern provinces were largely excluded from the political process. The same marginalization happened to Darfur when the 800 jobs were allocated to the provinces of Sudan prior to the independence.
Sudan is now a state living in a situation similar to the status under international trusteeship, by the sheer presence of the UNAU force (UNAMID) formed under the 1769 UN Resolution on July 31, 2007 as the largest peacekeeping mission consisting of force of about 26,000 personnel began to deploy to the war-torn Darfur region in October 2007. As of December 2008, it has deployed 15,136 total uniformed personnel, including 12,194 troops, 175 military observers, 2,767 military police officers, supported by 786 international civilian personnel, 1,405 local civilian staff and 266 United Nations Volunteers! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations%E2%80%93African_Union_Mission_in_Darfur
The blockage of the political horizon, cultural famine , the escalation of state violence and interventions in all matters of people’s lives are the causes of the crisis in Sudan.
The foregoing factors have forced a large number of Sudanese youth who have completed their university studies and could not find work to ride doom boats across the sea and especially the Mediterranean Sea to get to Europe and to be prey to the human trafficking gangs to sadly die in the English Channel Tunnel. There are a number of examples for those who have gone prey to human traffickers including the late Hussam Osman Zubeir and Abdulrahman Haroun who crossed the Channel Tunnel and were arrested by the British police lately.
It takes a real genius to realise that Sudan under the twenty-six lean years of the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood Movement (MBM) is at its worst times since it became a nation. In addition, to respond to the words of one of the staunchly loyal members of the entity that was reported as saying boastfully that had it not been for the coming of the National Salvation Revolution (NSR) the Sudanese people would have been a group of paupers and beggars! He was pointing to the military coup, which was carried out by Islamists in June 30, 1989. The (NSR) is aka ‘Ingaz, meaning rescue in Arabic’.
The Claim of cultural and ethnic superiority in Sudan has become rife in the era of the rule of the infamous oppressive (Ingaz) regime.
Sudan is a country characterized by cultural and ethnic plurality (570 tribes that speak 595 languages divided into 75 ethnic groups on the basis of linguistic and cultural characteristics and other ethnographical characteristics).
The principle of my brother and I against my cousin and I and my cousin against a stranger becomes prevalent in communities with cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity which leads to the sovereignty of some and the marginalization of others as happens in Sudan today, unfortunately.
This regime went to general elections solo in April 2015 when Bashir was announced as the winner of 94 percent of the votes overwhelmingly in one-sided elections that were boycotted by the opposition political parties, criticized by the West and even by the African Union (AU) and failed to excite the Sudanese people.
The NCP regime refused to attend the preparatory meeting for the process of national dialogue called for by the African Union (AU) and which the opposition, both armed and civilian, attended. The representatives of the so-called Committee of ‘Seven plus Seven’, who represent the dialogue committee under the pretext of the elections.
After the series of postponements and delays, followed by postponement, the regime now comes and declares the formation of the so-called Supreme Coordinating Committee for the national dialogue consisting of membership of the National Congress Party (NCP) for the distraction of the opposition as well as deception of the regional and international communities and for more time wasting.
AU Resolution 539
While we commend the positions of the African Union (AU) and the AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) Resolution No. 539 for 2015, but at the same time we know very well that the regime of the National Congress Party (NCP) will work hard to undermine it as it did over the lean 26-year rule of Sudan.
In spite of our reservations, the Resolution-539 restores some hope after periods of despair of dealing with Omar al-Bashir and his entourage. Moreover, at the same time that this historic decision restores credibility to AU its real role ascribed to it.
The African Union (AU) and its organs are supposed to stand with the African people in their just struggle for freedom, democracy and decent life and for a sustainable peace, justice and equality.
The (AU) should not be the mission to support totalitarian regimes that overpower people to stay in power, as in the case of Sudan where citizens have been suffering under the scourge of senseless wars of attrition that destroy everything good to mankind without paying any consideration to their rights.
Having said the foregoing, one will not be flabbergasted if the Islamist regime rebuffs the resolution 539. The ruling regime of the NCP-led by the genocidal criminal, fugitive from the international justice, Omar al-Bashir who has a long history in the lack of commitment to international resolutions or the peace agreements signed with the parties in the conflict.
Breach of contracts and lack of commitment to the peace agreements signed with the parties in the conflict remained the motto for the Muslim Brotherhood entity in Sudan.
Moreover, we are confident that the solutions to the issues of Sudan remain in the hands of the components of the Sudanese people. They are formed of activist youth and peaceful opposition parties and the armed opposition, students and trade unions and women’s organizations are able to resist and compel the military junta to submit to the will of the people.
As expected, the news media reported that the NCP President Omer al-Bashir officially rejected the (AUPSC) call for the ‘Pre-Dialogue’ conference in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa by saying that he wants his ‘Wathba’ Dialogue to be Sudanese for the Sudanese inside Sudan! He added saying that while addressing a meeting with the Sudan Armed Force (SAF) at the Wadi Sayedna Military base on 30, August 2015. He reiterated his earlier statement that the dialogue he announced in January 2014 will not be held abroad and nobody will be able to force him to change his decision. He went on saying that he would reject any interference from the AU or the United Nations (UN) and that doors are widely open for participation for those willing to see Sudan’s issues resolved. He said addressing (SAF) that the year 2016 will be the end of the insurgents who refuse peace through his ‘Wathba’ Dialogue. Moreover, the NCP regime’s Foreign Minister was reported as saying that the role of the AU High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) chaired by Thabo Mbeki is merely to offer an opinion for success of the Wathba Dialogue and nothing more. This means that the regime does not recognize UNAMID as a ‘Peace Maker’ and it will remain only as a ‘Peace Keeping’ Mission regardless of the UNSC and AU bestowing new powers to the United Nations and African Union Mission for Darfur (UNAMID) lately. By saying that the Dialogue will remain solely a Sudanese affair without need for a foreign intervention, Omer al-Bashir tries to exclude the international community from his dialogue.
In a News conference about the current political situation and the future of the national dialogue held on the same date -30′ August 2015 – Omer al-Bashir rejected the AUPSC proposal, some opposition parties described Bashir’s position as irrational. The participants in the conference described the opposition taken by al-Bashir as irrational and that he is likely to change his opinion and give in to pressures of the international community as he did on several occasions! Some others have said that this is the typical false heroism and vacuous courage that Omar al-Bashir presents to face up to the predicaments of his irrational decisions. However, it is very likely that al-Bashir unexpectedly bows in acquiescence under the pressure of the international community and especially to the looming big stick waved by the United States of America (USA).
The Sudanese people should not attach any hope for achieving solutions to the crisis of their country and citizens languishing in. All the positions of the regime of the NCP affirm the lack of its seriousness in resolving the crisis in Sudan because all the main concern is directed towards maintaining the power to protect President Omar al-Bashir from the pursuit of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
This ruling regime of the NCP constantly seeks to undermine all peace efforts to resolve the crisis the country suffers from and is working on more complexity. Therefore, any attempt for entering into the alleged national dialogue is considered to be falling in the camouflage of no way out and devoid of any benefit.
Thus, the regime kept continuing in the same policies that have deepened the crisis of the nation with indifference without giving any attention to the seriousness of those policies that threatened national unity. The policies referred to above resulted in the secession of southern region of the country in 2011. The escalation of the crises of the country do not have any remedies but to overthrow the regime across the widest possible public front by a popular uprising and civil disobedience and political strike.
Albert Camus, a French Nobel Prize–winning author, journalist, and philosopher quoted as saying (The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Camus
Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman is an author, columnist and a blogger. His blog is http://thussudan.wordpress.com/