Sudan opposition sign new Charter, shun AUHIP roadmap again

The armed movements and civilian signatories to the Sudan Appeal, a political communiqué calling for regime change signed by the allied opposition forces in 2014, have agreed on a political charter for changing, restructuring and building the Sudanese state.

The new charter, signed at the conclusion of a four-day series of meetings in Paris last week, sets out the basis and principles for the management of the four-year transitional period to achieve peace, security and democratic transformation in Sudan and identify the functions with which the government will be tasked.

The Sudan Appeal signatories – the National Umma Party, the Sudanese Communist Party, the coalition of the of National Consensus Forces, civil society organisations, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Revolutionary Front – describe what has been reached in Paris as “a big leap forward toward achievement of the goals of the Sudanese people for change”.

Dr Jibril Ibrahim, leader of the Justice and Equality Movement, described the Paris meeting as “very successful”. He told Radio Dabanga that the new charter agrees on effective structuring of the forces of Sudan Appeal by inclusions of legislative, executive committees, and secretarial bodies to adjust the work and enable and facilitate contact with each other.

Brigadier Kamal Ismail, leader of Sudan Calling, also described the meeting in Paris as a very successful. He confirmed to Radio Dabanga that the final communiqué issued by the meeting expressed the unity of the opposition forces and the full agreement on uprising and a comprehensive solution.

Roadmap

While in Paris, the participants in the Sudan Appeal also held an extended meeting with envoys of the Sudan Troika (USA, UK and Norway), as well as the EU. The envoys renewed their appeal for them to sign the AUHIP roadmap provided by the AU mediation team in Addis Ababa.

However, the signatories unanimously rejected the signing of the roadmap, as it does not meet the necessary requirements for a ceasefire, delivery of humanitarian aid to the areas affected by the war, or the preparatory meeting to be held outside Sudan to prepare for a serious national dialogue.

In an interview with Radio Dabanga, National Umma Party leader El Sadig El Mahdi said that they told the envoys at the meeting that the road map in its current form is unacceptable.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the signatories agreed “to support a comprehensive political solution leading to a just, comprehensive peace and democratic transformation in the whole of Sudan”, along with agreeing on a leadership made up of a presidential coordinating council of ten members, who will chair each of its meetings by rotation, and make decisions by a two-thirds majority.