Sudan opposition welcomes proposal of ‘unified platform’

The political opposition forces have welcomed the proposal raised by the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement’s (SPLM-N) delegation at the start of the direct negotiations with the Government of Sudan in Addis Ababa on Thursday. The SPLM-N proposed a single negotiations platform to end the war between the Sudanese government and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF, an alliance of Sudanese armed movements), in order to end Sudan’s political and economic crises. Yusif Hussein, the spokesman for the Sudanese Communist Party, on Friday described to Radio Dabanga the proposal of a unified negotiation platform as “sound” because “it limits all the issues that lead to quick solutions”. He stated that the Sudanese political opposition parties consider the unification of the negotiating platform “the proper way”. They prefer this to the ruling National Congress Party’s proposal of restricting talks to the National Umma Party, the Popular Congress Parties, and some other parties. “It saves time when we negotiated in a comprehensive conference attended by all, and chaired by independent national figures.” The spokesman for the Popular Congress Party, political secretary Kamal Omar Abdel Salam, strongly welcomed the call for a unified negotiating platform. Speaking to Radio Dabanga he stated that in such a platform all issues of the marginalised regions could be discussed, as well as the way Sudan should be governed. “The Sudanese crisis is not a crisis of Darfur, South Kordofan or the Blue Nile, but it is the crisis of totalitarian authoritarian centre. And this crisis can only be resolved in a comprehensive manner.” The Darfur Bar Association described the call for a unified platform for negotiations between the Sudanese government and all SRF forces as a sound and objective process. Lawyer Mohamed Abdallah El Doma, the chairman of the Bar told Radio Dabanga that a comprehensive solution requires an “international platform in which all the armed movements take part in order to reach a comprehensive solution”. Otherwise, El Doma warned, the government will sign an agreement with one of the armed movements, after which the movement splits into two factions, or even more. He pointed to “the bitter experience of former partial peace agreements which have not produced any peace in Darfur”. Reservations Faroug Abu Eisa, the chairman of the National Consensus Forces (NCF, a coalition of opposition parties and allied to the SRF) was more reserved. He explained to Radio Dabanga that a negotiations platform will only be successful when the entire political spectrum is involved. “Else, the negotiations will end up the same as before in Naivasha. Those negotiations concluded with a bilateral agreement. It isolated the political forces and ultimately led to the secession of South Sudan.” “The SPLM-N should demand a unified platform bringing together all the Sudanese political forces, the SRF, the NCF, and others) to discuss all the issues of Sudan in a national conference.” Eisa called on the SPLM-N delegation in Addis Ababa call to take this issue into serious consideration, and to draw from former SRF-NCF joint statements, as the New Dawn Charter and the Democratic Alternative Document.  Minni Minawi, leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM) criticised the SPLM-N for agreeing to enter into negotiations with the Sudanese government, while the SLM-MM and other Darfuri rebel movements refused direct talks on the Darfur crisis. The SLM-MM belongs to the main armed movements that are member of the opposition alliance Sudan Revolutionary Front – of which the SPLM-N is a member too. Minawi advised the SPLM-N to demand from the African Union to involve the other rebel groups in the peace process saying that no comprehensive peace can be achieved in the absence of the other SRF members. The Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid El Nur (SLM-AW) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) sent two of their members as experts in the SPLM-N delegation, together with other representative of civil society and rights activists. The SPLM-N leaders say they have to cooperate with the African mediation and abide by the UN Security Council decision 2046 demanding them to negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states on the basis of the Framework Agreement between the government and the SPLM-N of 28 June 2011. The war in South Kordofan broke out in June 2011. In September 2011, the Sudan Armed Forces attacked Blue Nile state. The SPLM-N delegation, headed by Yasir Arman, at the opening session of the direct negotiations between the SPLM-N and the Government of Sudan on Thursday evening, proposed a single platform with all SRF forces to end the conflicts in Sudan. He appealed to the mediators, Thabo Mbeki, the chairman of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), and Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the Joint Special Representative of the United Nations and the African Union for Darfur, to work together to facilitate the formation of a new broad platform. The Sudanese government insisted that talks should be limited to the South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. News photo: Yasir Arman, head of the SPLM-N negotiating team speaks at the opening session of peace talks aimed at ending the war in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, in Addis Ababa on 13 February 2014. Related: Sudan’s peace talks have yet to be successful in Addis Ababa (14 February 2014) Nuba bombings kill nine as Sudan peace talks start (14 February 2014) Sudan peace talks: SPLM-N calls for ‘a new perspective and attitude’ (13 February 2014)