Opposition SCoP doubts success of Sudan’s dialogue conference
October 13, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The chairman of the opposition Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP) Ibrahim al-shiekh has called into question the success of the national dialogue conference describing it as “anomalous”.
In an interview with Sudan Tribune on Tuesday, al-Shiekh said the political parties participating in the conference have no weight and are not real parties to the Sudanese crisis.
He pointed that the current dialogue is actually being run by the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the Popular Congress Party (PCP) led by Hassan al-Turabi according to their own views and interests, saying the rest of the political forces have distanced themselves from the conference.
Al-Shiekh pointed that there is no option but to hold the pre-dialogue meeting under the auspices of the African Union (AU), saying it is the only forum that would guarantee participation of all parties in preparing for the dialogue according to common views and just compromises.
In the pre-dialogue meeting “We will eventually recommend a comprehensive vision without excluding any party and we will be responsible for our choices regarding the [dialogue’s] issues, national figures, committees works and beyond,” he added.
The holdout armed and political groups say the government should implement an AU road map to facilitate the dialogue process and participate in pre-dialogue meeting to be organised by the regional body in Addis Ababa.
However, Last Thursday, the government reiterated its refusal to sit outside the country with political parties which are authorized to exercise their activities inside the country.
The SCoP chairman said the national dialogue issue must be addressed with a high degree of seriousness and responsibility, pointing to the need for engaging the major parties to the crisis.
He warned that ignoring to engage the real parties to the armed conflicts would only mean reproducing the crisis in one way or another.
Al-Shiekh emphasized that all opposition forces support the comprehensive dialogue but the regime get used to bribe some political forces by ministerial posts or money in order to join the government, pointing that experience has proven failure of such a method.
The opposition figure underscored the need to create a conducive climate for holding the dialogue by choosing a neutral person to head the dialogue instead of president Omer Hassan al-Bashir.
In an address before the Sudanese community in Beijing last month, Bashir said “I’m the head of the dialogue’s committee and nobody would chair the dialogue and be my boss whether from the African Union or any other organ,”
The SCoP chairman also said they chose dialogue as means to resolve the political crisis and dismantle the one-party regime and establish a plural democratic state, pointing it is not the only available option to achieve that objective.
“Choosing dialogue over other options doesn’t mean that those options including the uprising, popular revolution or the civil disobedience are not feasible … the two options are available and one doesn’t cancel the other and doesn’t wait for , they can go in parallel,” he added
He pointed that dialogue requires not excluding any party because its goal is to achieve a settlement which means engaging all parties to the crisis.
“The NCP is party to the crisis and therefore it will be an original party in the solution and in the end all [political parties] would head for the elections and the Sudanese people will elect who they want,” he said.
“Dialogue must not exclude the NCP from the political scene but must be brought in with its real weight and size … wealth it gained since [it seized power in the coup d’état] wouldn’t be considered …. It must get ready to accept its original size and weight … and it must agree to share wealth and power with the other political forces without distinction,” al-Shiekh added.
UNITY OF THE OPPOSITION
Meanwhile, al-Shiekh refused to describe the opposition as weak and divided, saying that it gains ground in the political scene everyday and proves its unity and coherence.
He pointed to the opposition’s strong stance towards the dialogue conference, saying that its entire forces have lined up behind the “Sudan Call” charter.
“These are all indicators that the opposition didn’t stuck in one station … it exerts considerable efforts towards achieving its unity everyday,” he said.
On 3 December 2014, political and armed opposition forces signed a political declaration they labelled “Sudan Call” including a joint position for peace and democratic reform in the country, after the adoption by the African Union of a roadmap to facilitate the national dialogue.
The Sudan Call includes the National Umma Party (NUP), Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), the alliance of left parties National Consensus Forces (NCF), Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM)’s two major factions.
SCoP chairman said that “Sudan Call” alliance would be rebuilt and strengthened in the coming period after discussing issues of its structure, charter and methodology, pointing it would be the “unified center’ for all opposition forces.
He noted that other political parties would join the “Sudan Call” alliance very soon.
Al-Shiekh said he is not bothered by the government’s attempt to meet with the armed groups or the NUP separately, expressing confidence that the latter have agreed to the negotiated comprehensive solution and wouldn’t try the bilateral solutions again.
“All [political and armed forces] have learned the lesson and won’t repeat the experiences [of the bilateral agreements] once again,” he said.
(ST)