Sudan’s PCP says dialogue is the only option for change
October 31, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s opposition Popular Congress Party (PCP) led by Hassan al-Turabi said they have abandoned calls for overthrowing the regime by popular revolution considering that national dialogue lays the foundation for achieving political settlement.
The PCP was among the first political forces to approve Bashir’s call for the national dialogue. Also, the lslamist party is the only significant political force that didn’t suspend its participation in the process.
Omer, who addressed the opening session of his party’s 3rd convention in the River Nile state Saturday, said the PCP accepted the dialogue as it offers a strategic solution for Sudan’s internal and external crises away from any political tactics or manoeuvres.
He said that the PCP is counting on the national dialogue initiative to establish a real transition that leads to an agreement on a permanent constitution. Also, he denied that participation in the dialogue conference is confined to the rebel groups and the government parties.
Omer pointed they would continue to contact the holdout opposition, saying the preparatory dialogue meeting will be held in Addis Ababa to convince the rebel groups to join the dialogue.
Meanwhile, the governor of the River Nile state, Mohamed Hamid al-Balla, who addressed the convention, pledged to allow all political parties to express their views freely.
He stressed that political forces are free to carry out their political activities and hold their symposiums anywhere and any time according to the law, calling upon them to agree on a political formula for dialogue that doesn’t exclude anyone.
Since last year, the PCP leaders keep saying that Sudanese have no other option but political solution. They expressed fears that military option just brings instability in Sudan, pointing that the country will be dismembered into separate fragments some under the government control and others in the hands of rebel groups.
But opposition groups say the Islamist opposition group seeks only to reunite the Islamist groups, pointing to statements by the PCP leading members supporting their claims.
PCP CONVENTION IN NORTH DARFUR
Meanwhile, PCP secretary general in North Darfur state, Abdallah Mohamed Ahmed, announced that his party refuses to change the regime by military force, saying that change must come through dialogue.
He said before the opening session of the PCP’s convention in the locality of El-Fashir that Sudan is witnessing a major change in allowing political work and freedoms compared to the previous period, pointing to several symposiums held by the political forces recently.
Mohamed expressed hope that dialogue leads to agreement among the various political forces on the required system of governance, calling for reducing the large number of the political parties by integrating those who share the same ideas and visions.
(ST)