‘Sudan Appeal’ forces to meet in Europe, develop ‘joint strategy’

The signatories of the Sudan Appeal, a political communiqué calling for regime-change are planning to develop their joint strategy soon.

“The Sudanese government’s non-seriousness concerning the national dialogue constitutes the main obstacle for a peaceful solution for the crises in the country,” Dr Jibril Ibrahim, head of the Justice and Equality Movement, told Radio Dabanga.

He said that the Sudan Appeal forces will convene a meeting “within the next two weeks, in one of the European capitals, to determine the next steps. The meeting will concentrate on a new approach to the national dialogue, the unity of the opposition, and the development of a specific programme and mechanisms.”

The opposition forces, allied by the Sudan Appeal, have been invited by the European Parliament for a hearing on Sudan, to take place in Strasbourg on 9 June. A day later, they will attend the Hermannsburg annual forum in Germany to discuss the current situation in Sudan.

Sudan Appeal

On 3 December last year, representatives of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebel alliance, the National Umma Party (NUP), the National Consensus Forces (NCF, a coalition of opposition parties), and the Civil Society Initiative (CSI), signed the Sudan Appeal in Addis Ababa.

The two-page political communiqué calls for the ending of the civil wars in the country, the dismantling of the one-party system, and the rebuilding of Sudan based on democratic principles and equal citizenship. The signatories agree that if a peaceful regime change cannot be achieved by a broad national dialogue, it should be enforced by a popular uprising.

While the leaders of the SRF and NUP remained abroad, the chairmen of the NCF and the CSI were detained by security officers after their return to Khartoum. They were released on 9 April, a few days before the start of the general election.

In March this year, the AU High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) invited the Sudanese government and the Sudan Appeal forces for a preparatory meeting on the National Dialogue, as proposed by President Al Bashir early 2014. The ruling party declined to attend the meeting, planned for 29 March, at the last moment, saying that any meeting on the National Dialogue should take place within the country, and that the timing was not appropriate, as the general election would start two weeks later.