August 21, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok stressed that the civilian government drew up the peace plan and negotiated with the armed movements despite the leadership of the negotiating teams by the military component of the transitional authority.

In a radio talk show on Friday that lasted for more than an hour, aired by all public and private stations, Hamdok strongly denied the absence of the civilian government from the Juba mediated peace process.

He said he is aware of all the steps that are taking place in the peace process stressing he is "present in everything".

Also, he said he is in contact with all the leaders of the armed movements participating in the negotiations and those who are not like Abdelaziz al-Hilu and Abdel Wahid al-Nur. He referred to his visit to Kauda, the stronghold of the SPLM-N al-Hilu, and his meeting in Paris with al-Nur.

During his interview on Friday morning, Hamdok did not refer to the withdrawal of the SPLM-N al-Hilu from the negotiations in protest against the leadership of the government negotiating delegation by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo "Hemedti".

However, his statements at this time can be perceived as a direct response to the rebel demand to withdraw Hemetti from the talks.

The SPLM-N al-Hilu says that the Rapid Support Forces (SRF), led by Hemedti, responsible for crimes in various parts of Sudan, and therefore he was not qualified to lead the government negotiating delegation.

As a result, the mediation suspended the talks saying they want to consult with the head of the rebel group al-Hilu, who is currently not present at the venue of the peace talks.

The Sudanese Prime Minister said that the transitional authority has two components: civilian and military, but remains one government, not two. Also, the structure of the peace process that takes place in Juba has designed up by the Council of Ministers.

"The five axes on which the negotiations are based — the socio-economic development, governance and administration, justice and laws, humanitarian aid and security arrangements — are all prepared by the Council of Ministers and each axis is headed by a minister."

He added that the members of the government negotiating delegation were chosen by the executive body and that they are actually negotiating with the armed movements and not the military chief that leads the delegation. In addition to the participation of the Forces of Freedom and Change and Sudanese experts.

Hamdok disclosed that initially, they wanted the process to be conducted through the five axes identified by the government and gather all the armed groups at the same negotiating table to addressing the roots of the Sudanese crisis.

"We thought that the peace process would take place through axes, not (regional) tracks, but as a result of the historical legacy of the armed struggle movements that have made very large contributions to change and bring down the regime, the talks are now based on tracks and not axes. All these tracks follow the same axes."

He added that the existence of these different tracks contributed to prolonging the negotiations to more than six months, as agreed because the same issues are discussed in each track separately.

At the beginning of the radio interview, the Sudanese Prime Minister had spoken at length about the importance of the civil-military alliance to complete the tasks of the transitional phase and achieve democratic transition in Sudan.

He said that the Sudanese army has a historical and remarkable role in popular revolutions against authoritarian regimes through its decisive support to the popular will and is contributions to the transitional period.

(ST)