Sudan’s dialogue body to meet with al-Bashir on Sunday
June 11, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir Sunday would meet with the dialogue mechanism known as 7+7 to discuss the recent developments of the national dialogue besides determining a time-frame for holding the general assembly.
Bishara Gumaa Aror, member of the 7+7 committee Saturday told Sudan Tribune that the meeting with al-Bashir would discuss a report on the recent developments of the dialogue besides the outcome of the contacts with the holdout groups and the ongoing arrangements for holding the dialogue’s general assembly.
He described the upcoming meeting as “historic and crucial”, saying it would determine a definitive timeframe for holding the general assembly to approve the dialogue recommendations.
“It would be a decisive meeting so that nobody speculates that the delay [of the general assembly] was caused by our desire to wait for the [holdout groups to join the process] but was due to the delay in certain arrangements and procedures,” he said
Aror further pointed to several scenarios for holding the general assembly, saying the exact date of the general assembly would be determined according to the desire of the conferees and the Sudanese people.
He added that date of the general assembly would also depend on the reports of the internal external liaison committees, the final report of the dialogue’s conference general secretariat and the report of the 7+7 committee.
“These reports would be coupled with the [outcome] of the consultations and contacts that were made during the previous period between the internal [opposition] forces and the 7+7 committee besides the regional and international moves regarding the dialogue and we would then determine the appropriate time to hold the general assembly,” he added
It is worth to mention that the political forces members of the opposition alliance National Consensus Forces (NCF) and other parties refuse to take part in the dialogue conference before the creation of a conducive environment and the implementation of specific confidence-building measures.
Some significant political parties, such as the National Umma Party (NUP), the Reform Now Movement (RNM) and the Just Peace Forum (JPF) has approved the process in the beginning but later suspended their participation, criticizing the government refusal to postpone the general elections and the lack of political freedoms.
Also, the major armed movements in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile refrained from participating in the dialogue conference citing similar demands.
Meanwhile, member of the 7+7 committee and chairman of the subcommittee for creating the conducive climate for dialogue Osman Abu al-Magd said they are making intensive contacts with the African mediation to convince the armed groups to join the dialogue.
He told the pro-government Sudan Media Centre (SMC) that President Bashir would meet during the coming two weeks with the political parties and armed groups participating in the dialogue, saying the 7+7 committee would brief Bashir on the recent developments of the dialogue.
Abu al-Magd pointed that the 7+7 committee has discussed with the African mediation the desire of the armed groups to sign the Roadmap Agreement, saying that several armed groups would join the dialogue ahead of the general assembly.
He called for not rushing to the outcome of the dialogue, saying that the country’s crises would only be resolved through dialogue and negotiations.
On 21 March, the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) and the Sudanese government signed a framework agreement calling to stop war in Blue Nile, Darfur, and South Kordofan and to and to allow humanitarian access to the needy in the war affected zones ahead of the national dialogue process.
However, the opposition groups, Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), NUP, SPLM-N and Sudan Liberation Movement-Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) refused to sign the Roadmap Agreement, saying it excludes other opposition groups and acknowledges the government controlled process as a basis for the constitutional reform process.
(ST)