Internal opposition groups endorse outcome of Sudan Call meeting

October 2, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – The internal groups of the opposition umbrella Sudan Call have discussed ways to support and activate the outcome of the Leadership Council of the alliance which was held in Addis Ababa from 25 to 30 September.

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.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Sunday, the internal groups of the Sudan Call said they discussed ways to activate the outcome of the Addis Ababa meeting particularly with regard to the pre-dialogue meeting and the national constitutional dialogue.

The statement endorsed the leadership council’s decision that the 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.

According to the statement, the meeting also discussed ways to expand the Sudan Call in order to create the broadest resistance front against the regime besides approving the criteria for joining political alliances and forums.

It stressed the need to escalate mass actions against the government, demanding the government to release the political detainees and convicts, stop the vexatious litigations against political activists and readmit dismissed university students.

The statement also called to conduct an impartial and transparent international inquiry on Amnesty International’s report regarding the use of chemical weapons by Sudanese army in Darfur.

It further announced that the National Unionist Party (NUP) has joined the internal groups of the Sudan Call, pointing the NUP’s leader Youssef Mohamed Zain and its secretary general Mohamed Hamad Saeed took part in the meeting of the alliance.

Last week, the opposition alliance National Consensus Forces (NCF) suspended membership of five Sudan Call groups including the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP), Sudanese Baath Party (SBP), Center Alliance Party (CAP), Sudanese National Party (SNP) and Sudanese National Alliance (SNA) following mounting differences over participation in the African Union-led peace process.

On Wednesday, the five groups decided to pull out of the NCF.

The Sudan Call, which was established in Addis Ababa on 3 December 2014, includes the National Umma Party (NUP) and rebel umbrella of Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), the Civil Society Initiative (CSI).