Bashir’s ex-adviser expresses disappointment over progress of national dialogue

September 20, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – A former adviser of Sudanese President Omer Hassan al-Bashir described the country’s situation as worse after the national dialogue initiative rolled out in January 2014.

The head of the Reform Now Movement (RNM) Ghazi Salah al-Din al-Attabani said in an op-ed for Sudan Tribune titled ‘Sorry pal! we may be barking up the wrong tree’ that Bashir made “extravagant promises” during his address to the nation that month which became known as the ” leap” speech.

“He overused the newfangled word leap, denoting reform, change, or transformation,” said al-Attabani who split from Bashir’s ruling party in late 2013.

“Despite the enigma shrouding the speech, making it open to different interpretations, we all embraced the message calling it constructive and timely. What happened in the next twenty months was an anticlimax,” he added.

Al-Attabani said that twenty months later “the situation is worse”.

“The four crises besetting the nation -the war, economy, foreign relations, constitutional reform- show no sign of abating. The government has decided to throw its own party. Following its trademark technique, it decided to have its own national dialogue. The idea is to maintain intellectual discipline and keep control over the proceedings”.

“A unique opportunity presented itself on 5 September 2014, when delegates from government parties, opposition, and armed groups signed an accord in Addis Ababa, under the auspices of the African Union Panel AUHIP. The ball was in the penalty area waiting for the striker, but the latter had other plans”.

He recalled similar dialogue initiative in Kenana in 2008 aimed at discussing Darfur conflict.

“No one cared to send a decent invitation to the armed groups to attend. The result: an impressive gathering and a comprehensive final report. In the next few days hardly anyone remembered a thing of what the Kenana Conference produced, least of all the armed groups who were conspicuous by their absence”.

“It was a classic case of the dog barking up the wrong tree,” the opposition figure said.

Bashir announced on August 20th his willingness for a two-month ceasefire in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states and Darfur region in order to hold the dialogue in a “healthy atmosphere”.

This week the umbrella group of Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) offered to sign a cessation of hostilities for six months in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states and Darfur region provided that Khartoum be committed to the inclusive dialogue process and accept the pre-dialogue process.

The government said it is still deliberating over the offer before announcing an opinion.

Beside the rebels, several major opposition parties remain outside the dialogue and particularly the National Umma Party (NUP) and the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP).

(ST)