Sudan’s dialogue will not be successful without rebel groups : political officials

September 4, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese political forces participating in the national dialogue on Friday admitted that the internal political process will not meet the expected success without the participation of the armed opposition groups.

The ruling National Congress Party (NCP), the opposition Popular Congress Party (PCP) of Hassan al-Turabi rejected an African Union plan aiming to bring the holdout rebel and political groups to participate in the national dialogue through the organization of a preparatory meeting outside Sudan on the matters related to the process.

“The non-participation of armed movements will hamper efforts to achieve the desired success,” said the chairman of the National Democratic Forum and member of dialogue coordination body Faisal Yassen who pointed to “the need to hold the pre-dialogue conference”.

“We do not mind even if the preparatory conference is held in (the rebel stronghold of) Kauda” which is the capital of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North (SPLM-N) controlled areas in South Kordofan.

“We are not afraid of the preparatory conference,” he further stressed.

The Sudanese government says the dialogue should be prepared and held by Sudanese inside the country without foreign intervention, arguing that previous initiatives didn’t bring peace or stability to Sudan and the international community didn’t implement its pledge in support of the signed deals.

The president Omer al-Bashir further accused Western countries of supporting rebel and opposition groups and using it to topple his regime.

But observers say the government is confusing the Sudanese street by insisting on its international isolation and the imposed international sanctions despite the secession of South Sudan.

Further, the leader of the opposition National Umma Party (NUP), Sadiq al-Mahdi refuted the government refusal of international participation in the dialogue process saying they just want through the pre-dialogue meeting to end war and to agree on the confidence building measures creating a healthy environment for the internal process.

Speaking in a talk show at Radio Omdurman, Yassen said the dialogue body will meet the diplomatic foreign missions in Khartoum to brief them on the ongoing preparations for the dialogue which is scheduled for 10 October.

He also said they are ready to meet the armed groups and al-Mahdi stressing on the need to involve him in the political process saying his NUP cannot be ignored.

Yassen said the last August communiqué of the Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) which insists on the need for the pre-dialogue meeting, is “not entirely negative”.

The problem of absence disturbs school systems and ends in the students’ dropping out of school.

However, a leading member of the National Liberation and Justice Party (NLJP), Ahmed Fadel who co-signed the famous 5 September agreement with the AU High Level Implementation Panel on the national dialogue said the African roadmap “opens the door for foreign intervention”.

Fadel further called on the government to “urgently undertake diplomatic initiatives to address the risks of the AUPSC decision and to cut the road for such initiatives”.

NLJP leader Tijani al-Sissi last Wednesday criticised the AUPSC’s decision on the national dialogue and accused the African body of interfering in Sudan’s internal affairs.

(ST)