Sudan Call to meet Mbeki next week

A meeting between Sudan Call alliance and the AU High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) led by Thabo Mbeki will be held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on December 9 to discuss the National Dialogue issue.

The head of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and deputy head of the Sudan Call, Gibril Ibrahim, said: “We will have a meeting with the AUHIP in which we either agree a new way to restructure the issue of the National Dialogue or we part with the mechanism and have nothing do with it.”

The meeting will discuss the ‘roadmap’, which was established in March 2016 by Mbeki. It lays the steps for accords to be agreed in order to begin negotiations on the armed conflicts in Darfur, Blue Nile, and South Kordofan, and on opposition parties to participate in the National Dialogue.

Mbeki’s mediators wish to amend the ‘roadmap’ in such a way that it allows a direct move to a constitutional process with the parties. Also, it is required that the opposition participate in the general elections scheduled for 2020. Gibril Ibrahim pointed out that this means the AUHIP is adopting the position of the government.

He explained the reluctance of opposition parties to refuse to sign the agreement up to this point, in that JEM-Gibril has “a different vision in regard to the existing structure… which does not contribute to any form of change”.

National Dialogue

In January 2014, Al Bashir proposed the establishment of a National Dialogue mechanism, and called on all Sudanese political parties and rebel movements to participate in order to solve the various crises in the country. Opposition forces have so far refused to join, leading to discussions over restructuring of the proposed mechanisms for the National Dialogue.

The Sudan Call is an alliance of Sudanese opposition parties and armed movements, and is chaired by El Sadig El Mahdi, leader of the National Umma Party. The alliance calls for implementation of confidence-building measures in Sudan, including the protection of political freedoms. Armed movements involved in the alliance include JEM.

Peace agreement meeting

On another note, JEM leader Gibril Ibrahim announced at a press conference in Paris yesterday evening that the two Darfur non-signatory movements, JEM and Sudan Liberation Army-Minni Minawi (SLA/MM), will sign a pre-negotiation deal with the Sudanese government in Berlin on Thursday with the proviso that the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) will serve as basis for negotiations. The peace agreement was first signed between Khartoum and rebel parties – excluding the JEM and SLM-MM – in 2011. Ibrahim said that the signing ceremony will be attended by the Sudan Revolutionary Front and the Sudan Call alliance.