NUP, RNM warn against isolating opposition from Sudan’s pre-dialogue meeting
November 30, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Two of Sudan’s outspoken opposition parties have warned participants in the ongoing national dialogue against designs from the government and its associates to hijack the upcoming preparatory meeting, slated for Addis Ababa on December 7, and isolate the opposition based within Sudan from its works.
Sudan’s peace broker , former South African President Thabo Mbeki , last Monday called the Sudanese political forces for a meeting in the Ethiopian Capital in an endeavour to break the ice between the government and the opposition in anticipation of a wider and all-inclusive dialogue to resolve the Sudanese political crisis.
The NUP and the RNM parties said in a joint statement following a “consultative” meeting in Khartoum that “we declare our rejection of attempts by the NCP and its allies to control the meeting procedures”.
“Attempts by the ruling party to impose its will- power on the preparatory meeting can spoil all chances of finding a solution for the country’s crisis through dialogue as stipulated in resolution 539 of the African Security and Peace Council,” said the statement, signed for the NUP by its deputy chairman Fadlallah Burma Nasir and for the RNM by its leading figure Hassan Osman Rizig.
“The preparatory meeting is indeed a good opportunity for achieving an equitable and comprehensive peace, stability and democratic change if and when its requirements and preconditions are adhered to,’’ the two parties further asserted.
“The African Security and Peace Council had made it clear that Sudanese should engage in an all-embracing dialogue in which all Sudanese stakeholders should take part without any hegemony from any party,’’ added the two parties.
They said the presence in the preparatory meeting of the NUP, the RNM, the Sudan Call forces and the representatives of other national forces is imperative for a real dialogue away from the bluffing and tricks of the NCP and its associates.
Earlier government officials and members of the 7+7 mechanism of the National Dialogue Conference had said participation in the preparatory meeting would just be confined to the armed movements plus leader of the NUP, former Premier Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi, and will not include the opposition forces operating within the country.
The two parties further described the ongoing National Dialogue as ” empty’’ and is run under “the arrogant domination” of the ruling party and its allies in total absence of the conditions of transparency and freedom , which are the prerequisites for a true and productive dialogue.
The two parties further condemned ‘’the unjust court ruling” that sentenced war prisoners from the Sudan Liberation Movement -Minni Minnawi to death by hanging.
They urged the authorities to stop “such irresponsible moves that seek to block the roads of change through civilian means and poison the atmospheres of national dialogue.’’
They announced their backing for the Minnawi movement’s campaign for solidarity with those prisoners of war and voiced support for the grievances of the Darfur university students .
“We totally reject the systematic violence perpetrated against the Darfur students in the universities when they raise their legitimate political, legal, economic and humanitarian demands,” adds the statement.
The two parties said they had discussed the harsh living conditions of the country’s citizens , the escalating prices of basic food stuffs , the declining value of the national currency, the deteriorating condition of human rights , the suppression of freedoms and the ban on the travel of political leaders and the confiscation of their travel documents.
“We forcefully condemn the chasing and trials of political activists and express our strong support to the prisoners of the Reform Now Movement who were jailed for simply addressing a gathering in Central Khartoum where they criticized the government policies,” according to the statement.
ST
