Sudanese to march on Thursday in support of Hamdok-El Hilu deal

Nuba activists call on all Sudanese to participate in the marches scheduled for Thursday in support of the agreement between PM Abdallah Hamdok and rebel leader Abdelaziz El Hilu. Hamdok met with the delegation of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebel alliance on Monday. Rebel leader Minni Minawi is currently in Cairo, for a meeting with the Secretary General of the League of Arab States.

Civil society organisations in the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan are calling on all Sudanese, “especially those in the Two Areas (South Kordofan and Blue Nile state)” to join the Marches of the Millions planned to take place on Thursday.

The marches are organised in support of the agreement on principles, signed by Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok and Abdelaziz El Hilu, leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction in South Kordofan (SPLM-N El Hilu) in Addis Ababa on September 3, to revive the peace talks between Khartoum and the movement, from which the latter withdrew on August 20.

Kajo Shayen, head of civil society groups in the Nuba Mountains areas controlled by the SPLM-N, told Radio Dabanga on Monday that they will actively participate in the marches.

Ammar Daldoum, Secretary General of the SPLM-N El Hilu and head of the movement’s negotiation team in Juba participated by teleconferencing in a seminar entitled The Addis Ababa Agreement, the Last Chance for National Unity, held in Kadugli, capital of South Kordofan, on Sunday evening.

Daldoum said that the SPLM-N El Hilu faction seeks “a state of justice and democracy in Sudan, that can be reached by genuinely addressing the roots of the country’s problems”.

He attributed the recurring conflicts to “the failure of the political elites for more than 65 years in drafting a permanent Constitution that should solve the problems by including the ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity in the country”. He denounced “the insistence of the elites to impose a single identity on all Sudanese and exclude the people in the peripheries, which lead to the outbreak of the many wars in the country”.

‘From now on we do not talk anymore about the government of Sudan and the rebel movements but about a partnership government during the transitional period.’ – PM Abdallah Hamdok

‘On the move’

“The peace train started moving and everyone should ride in it,” PM Hamdok said in a press statement after his meeting with the delegation of the SRF rebel alliance currently visiting Khartoum in preparation of the final signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Juba on October 3.

“From now on we do not talk anymore about the government of Sudan and the rebel movements but about a partnership government during the transitional period.”

According to the PM, “the biggest challenge now is to bring peace to the stakeholders on the ground according to the agreed timetable”.

Yasir Arman, head of the SRF delegation of the Revolutionary Front, said that the meeting dealt with harmonising the Constitutional Document signed by the Transitional Military Council and the Forces for Freedom and Change in August last year with the Juba peace agreement.

“This is a most important issue as it is linked with the actual implementation of the peace agreement, which will start after the contents of the agreement have been integrated in the Constitutional Document,” he explained at the joint press conference.

“The coming period will witness, for the first time in the history of Sudan, a joint consolidation of democracy, peace, and citizenship without discrimination. Sudan is a diverse country that must respect the right of the various ethnic and cultural communities”.

Arman added that “One of the main roots of the problems is the economic marginalisation of the people in large parts of the country”. He said he hopes “they will express their views at the national economic conference” to be held soon. Opening trade routes with South Sudan is of great importance as well.

Arab League

Minni Minawi, head of the Sudan Liberation Movement-MM faction, yesterday discussed with Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States in Cairo ways to support peace and stability in Sudan.

Aboul Gheit expressed the League's readiness “to continue to support every effort aimed at strengthening security and stability in Sudan, and “to mobilise Arab and international support to implement the peace obligations of the brothers in Sudan”.

Radio Dabanga’s editorial independence means that we can continue to provide factual updates about political developments to Sudanese and international actors, educate people about how to avoid outbreaks of infectious diseases, and provide a window to the world for those in all corners of Sudan. Support Radio Dabanga for as little as €2.50, the equivalent of a cup of coffee.