Sudan’s dialogue body, FFC to develop discussions for holistic process
April 10, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s dialogue body known as 7+7 and the opposition alliance of the Future Forces of Change (FFC) have agreed to hold a series of meetings to reach joint understanding on peace and dialogue issues.
In a press release Sunday, FFC chairman Ghazi Salah al-Din said the meeting was held to determine the agenda for discussion between the FFC and the government side.
He said the agreement on the agenda is the first step towards achieving the desired goal, saying the meeting comes while the economy is deteriorating and the war is increasingly affecting the people.
Salah al-Din added the meetings seek to achieve the essential condition for completing the national dialogue which is the “inclusive participation” of all political and armed forces.
He said that it would be difficult to end the war and achieve a sustainable political settlement without ensuring the participation of all political and armed forces.
“We would continue to work with the other opposition forces and the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) to achieve this requirement and [we would also work] with the government side as long as it remained committed to the documents that have been signed including the roadmap which was signed in Addis Ababa on 5 September 2014,” he said.
For his part, the member of the 7+7 committee Kamal Omer Abdel-Salam said they decided to hold further meetings to end the war and address its causes, stressing they would continue to communicate with all political force with an open heart.
Also, the member of the 7+7 committee Guma’a Bishara Aror said the dialogue would seek to engage most of the Sudanese people to achieve the desired consensus, pointing the meeting discussed the participation of the FFC in the comprehensive dialogue.
He added that the two sides agreed to hold meetings with the various internal political forces besides the armed movements, saying they would determine how those meetings could be held.
Following a three day-meeting with a government delegation in the Ethiopian capital last March, three armed groups in Darfur and the Two Areas and the opposition National Umma Party (NUP) refused to ink the declaration of principles saying it recognizes a government controlled process as a basis for the national dialogue.
However, the AUHP chief Thabo Mbeki slammed the position of the opposition groups saying they refused to sign it only because of the venue of the dialogue meeting.
He added that some opposition groups including the FFC accepted to meet the dialogue body to discuss the confidence building measures for an inclusive national dialogue.
Also, the FFC said they intend to discuss with the national dialogue coordination committee ways to bring the opposition forces including the armed groups to join the dialogue inside Sudan.
(ST)