Sudan Call groups endorse position paper for dialogue preparatory meeting
October 1, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Opposition coalition’s Sudan Call has endorsed its position paper for the national dialogue preparatory meeting and reiterated its support for the demands of the armed groups for a humanitarian cessation of hostilities .
Political and armed groups of the Sudan Call on Friday wrapped up a five-day workshop in the Ethiopian capital where it discussed the different positions of its members and selected its delegation for a meeting with the ruling National Congress Party and allied parties on the confidence building measures ahead of a national dialogue meeting inside the country.
This preparatory meeting should take place in Addis Ababa after the signing of a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access agreements between the government and the armed groups in Darfur and the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states known as the “Two Areas.”
The Sudan Call Leadership Council approved (the negotiating position paper on the preparatory meeting for the national constitutional dialogue), including the vision of the Alliance its principles, objectives and confidence building measures,” said a statement released after the end of the workshop on Friday.
“This negotiating position paper will serve as the main guidance document to determine the course of action of its negotiating delegation headed by Eng. Omer Youssef al-Digair,” the statement stressed.
The opposition coalition further said they will no longer be committed to the Roadmap Agreement, if the government continues to show lack of seriousness to reach a cessation of hostilities and holding the preparatory meeting.
“The Sudan Call will directly call for an alternative national constitutional dialogue that includes the Future Forces of Change (FFC) and excludes the regime. At the same time it will escalate the resistance in all its forms until it reaches its ultimate goals through regime change and achieves a just peace and well-established democracy,” the opposition groups said.
The Sudanese government dispatched Saturday a high level delegation led by Presidential Assistant Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid and State Minister Amin Hassan Omer for informal talks with the armed groups over the truce and humanitarian access agreement.
On the Two Areas, the parties finalized a cessation of hostilities agreement but still diverge on the humanitarian access. The government during the last round of talks refused to accept the SPLM-N demand to allow the delivery through Ethiopia of only 20% of the humanitarian assistance to the rebel-held areas in the Blue Nile State.
On Darfur, the parties failed to achieve any progress in the negotiations. Khartoum demands the rebels to sign the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) and rejects their demand for political talks. Also, the government demands the rebels to disclose their position in Darfur and refuse their demand to be associated to the distribution of humanitarian aid.
The Sudan Call groups decided to represent the displaced persons in Darfur and refugees in its organs and to organize a workshop for their representatives to achieve this task.
It also decided to support the claims of eastern and northern Sudan for separate tracks to discuss issues of peace , security, decentralization, culture and development.
(ST)