September 21, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - A leading member of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) said that the Central Council of the ruling coalition will discuss, on Tuesday, the normalization with Israel and the results of the discussions between Sudanese and U.S. delegation in the UAE.

The head of the Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Minister of Justice Nasr al-Din Abdel Bari and a technical team are expected to conclude two-day official visit to the UAE on Monday.

The government said, on Sunday, that the al-Burhan is discussing with the Emirati leadership the bilateral relations, while Abdel Bari and the experts are discussing with an American team in the UAE removing Sudan from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

The controversy is still raging in Sudan over the goals of the visit after press leaks saying that the discussions in the UAE will focus on the normalization with Israel in exchange for immediate support for Sudan’s collapsing economy.

However, the transitional government remains silent about the purpose of the visit.

"The ruling coalition will discuss on Tuesday the normalization with Israel and the results of the visit of al-Burhan and his accompanying delegation to the Emirates," Ahmed Hadara, a member of the FFC Central Council told the Sudan Tribune on Monday.

Hadara, who represents the Unionist Alliance, stressed that the issue of normalization with Israel needs broad popular participation, whether through a referendum or a constitutional conference, for a final decision.

The components of the Forces of Freedom and Change are divided over normalization with Israel between supporters and rejecters. However, the return of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front(SRF) to the alliance could change the balance in favour of the normalization.

The head of the SRF advance delegation who in Khartoum these days, Yasir Arman, said that Sudanese need to answer the question of normalization with Israel.

Haider al-Safi, a member of the FFC Central Council, affirmed that the coalition’s position on the normalization was not united.

The representative of the Republican Party who is supportive to the normalization called for a discussion on the issue so that everyone could share their views under the quest to build a "new Sudan" based on diversity.

Al-Safi did not rule out the normalization with Israel, pointing to the existence of events that impose themselves.

He added that the Sudanese people are no longer confined to Arab culture, but rather they have become free and aspire to a change that achieves their interests.

Regarding the possible normalization with Israel by the transitional government without consulting the divided FFC, al-Safi told the Sudan Tribune that: "(the government)’s decisions must be responsible."

Some political forces, including the National Umma Party, the Communist Party and Arab nationalist groups, oppose the rapprochement with Israel pointing the need to reach a solution to the Palestinian cause.

(ST)