Sudanese government Darfur groups discuss
February 18, 2020 (JUBA) – The negotiating delegations of the government and Darfur groups participating in peace talks in Juba Tuesday agreed to form a joint committee to address the lack of diversity of national civil service institutions.
Darfurians have often complained from their underrepresentation in the civil service saying it is not representative of the diversity of Sudan’s population in terms of ethnicity.
Despite Hamdok efforts to form a government reflecting the diversity of the Sudanese population in terms of gender, sexuality, disability and ethnicity, the armed groups say Darfurians have been underrepresented.
Following the extension of the ongoing negotiations for three weeks, on Monday, the parties entered into negotiations on the power-sharing, structures of the federal government, and the relationship between the centre and the regions.
Speaking after a session of talks on Tuesday, South Sudanese mediator Tut Galtuak told reporters that the two sides agreed to form a joint committee to find out the extent of the representation of Darfur people in the federal institutions, noting that the parties have concluded that Darfurians are inadequately represented in the national civil service in Sudan.
“If an agreement was reached, we would have come a long way,” he said stressing that the negotiation on the Darfur track is going well and he expected a comprehensive peace agreement be reached very soon.
Despite Hamdok efforts to form a government reflecting the diversity of the Sudanese population in terms of gender, sexuality, disability and ethnicity, the armed groups say Darfurian have been underrepresented in his government.
Also, they accused the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) of excluding them from the talks with the transitional military council and not consulting them for the nomination of transitional government ministers.
For his part, Mohamed al-Hassan al-Taishi, a member of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, and the official spokesman for the government negotiating delegation stated that it was agreed to form a committee to draft a text dealing with the issue of governance in Sudan and the relationship between the centre and regions and how to address this issue technically.
He said that the discussion between the two parties on the power-sharing chapter tackled the civil service as one of the main issues in Sudan the transitional authority is resolved to deal with.
Al-Taishi further pointed out that the Constitutional Document provides to establish the National Commission for the Reform of the Civil Service in Sudan to address the deficiencies and shortcomings that have accompanied the civil service in the country.
The senior official who is a Darfurian said that the negotiation session turned towards addressing the disadvantaged representation of Darfurians in the civil service and the need to apply policies based on positive discrimination.
He stressed that the same thing will include people from the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile states and eastern Sudan region.
(ST)