AUHIP, Sudan Call meeting on roadmap amendments

The mediating African Union panel (AUHIP) discussed amending the roadmap for peace with the Sudan Call, a coalition of Sudanese opposition parties, during this week’s meeting in Berlin.

Dr Jibril Ibrahim, the head of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), said that the meeting in the German capital on Wednesday discussed the course of the peace process in Sudan, as well as the letter by AU High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) chief mediator Thabo Mbeki to the Sudan Call on September 25.

Ibrahim said in an interview with Radio Dabanga that the AUHIP said it is possible to conduct a comprehensive national dialogue between all parties, through writing the Sudanese constitution. “Without calling it a national dialogue as there is not any framework for a national dialogue.”

According to the JEM chairman, the AUHIP delegation confirmed that Mbeki was ready to discuss “any new ideas that would move the political process forward in Sudan”.

Refuse constitutional process

The Sudan Call, in turn, confirmed its adherence to the roadmap for peace, which combines the peace process and the political process. The alliance (also known as Sudan Appeal) continues to refuse to participate in a constitutional and political process.

The roadmap was presented to the warring parties in March 2016 by Mbeki and regards the accords to be agreed on for negotiations on the armed conflicts in Darfur, Blue Nile, and South Kordofan, and on opposition parties to participate in the National Dialogue.

The government delegation and the chief mediator signed the document in March, while the opposition refused to sign it until July 2017. They insisted that several issues including security and ending the conflict in the region.

‘The constitutional process and elections cannot take place under the prevailing atmosphere’, according to the Sudan Call, but its delegation was ready to discuss with the AUHIP on how to make a push for the political process.

Rebel leader Ibrahim said that the Sudan Call delegation demanded that the next meeting, which AUHIP chairman Thabo Mbeki plans to hold by the end of November, should be inclusive and not limited to the parties which have signed the peace roadmap.

AUHIP proposal

In his letter to the Sudan Call in September, Mbeki proposed to amend the roadmap in such a way that it allows to move directly to the constitutional process with the parties. Also, he proposed that the opposition should participate in the general elections scheduled in 2020.

The Sudan Call was represented by Jibril Ibrahim, Minni Minawi (head of the Sudan Liberation Movement-MM), Maryam El Sadig (National Umma Party), and Nasif El Amin (Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction commanded by Malik Agar). The Germain Berghoff Foundation hosted the meeting on Wednesday.