Bashir calls on opposition to join Sudan’s dialogue vows to crush rebels
October 11, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir on Tuesday has said the national document would remain open for the holdout opposition to sign it vowing to defeat the armed groups militarily.
At the closing session of the National Dialogue Conference on Monday, the political parties and armed groups participating in the dialogue approved the national document which is expected to constitute the basis for drafting the permanent constitution.
Al-Bashir, who addressed a large rally celebrating the end of the dialogue conference in Khartoum on Tuesday, renewed his call for the holdout opposition to endorse the dialogue’s recommendations, saying “he who refrains from doing so would stand against the Sudanese people”.
“The Sudanese people are capable of imposing peace … and we declared the ceasefire … those who come for peace are welcome and those who don’t come we would pursue them into the jungle and wherever they were,” he said.
Last June, al-Bashir declared a four-month unilateral cessation of hostilities in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states where the Sudanese army has been fighting the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) rebels since June 2011.
On Monday, he declared an extension of the cessation of hostilities in war zones for two months.
The Sudanese President further vowed to establish “a new Sudan that is free from tribalism”, stressing the official documents would no longer include questions about the tribe or the region as being recommended by the dialogue conference.
“The Sudanese people have made new history and the10th of October would become a national day,” he said.
In January 2014, al-Bashir called on political parties and armed groups to engage in a national dialogue to discuss four issues, including ending the civil war, allowing political freedoms, fighting against poverty and revitalizing national identity.
However, rebel groups and opposition parties refused to join Khartoum process as they demand the government to end war and ensure freedoms in the country ahead of the dialogue.
PCP CELEBRATES DIALOGUE OUTCOME
Meanwhile, the Popular Congress Party (PCP) of the late Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi has welcomed the outcome of the national dialogue saying it would open a new page in Sudan’s history.
PCP secretary general and member of the dialogue committee known as 7+7, Ibrahim al-Sanousi, who addressed the rally, said power would revert back to the people through the ballot boxes, stressing his party seeks to implement Shari’a law.
He described the dialogue as real completion for the Inqaz (Salvation) revolution which was launched 27 years ago, saying the national document would pave the road for freedoms, peace, security and stability.
The PCP was part of the National Consensus Forces (NCF) coalition which had being gathering the left parties and National Umma Party.
However, the Sudanese Islamist party, which split from the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in 1999, is now backing the regime, saying the defence of the Islamic state in Sudan should prevail over their political differences.
(ST)