Sudanese Congress Party welcomes road map

The Sudanese Congress Party (SCP) has welcomed the road map document issued by the rebel coalition of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF).

The SCP described it as “historic for identifying what is required for negotiation between the armed movements and the government, including cessation of hostilities, and description of the requirements of the desired comprehensive dialogue through specific mechanisms”.

In an interview with Radio Dabanga to be broadcast on Thursday, Ibrahim El Sheikh, head of the Sudanese Congress Party, said that his Party welcomes this historic document that is “completely consistent with Sudan Appeal, Paris and Berlin Declarations, the former resolutions issued by the United Nations, the African Union and all the respective bodies concerned with the Sudanese conflict”.

He pointed out that the road map also committed to a large extent to the general direction of dialogue and a unified negotiation platform: “The road map document has not left the regime any room to manoeuvre or buy time. The regime has to accept the will of the international community; especially after the AU Peace and Security Council issued resolution 539 and allowed the regime a period of 90 days to confirm its seriousness.

In Khartoum, the leaders of the National Umma Party and Reform Now Movement held talks on the national dialogue issues on Tuesday evening.

The two parties stressed the need for the dialogue to be preceded by a meeting at the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa to discuss procedural issues.

In August, the AU Peace and Security Council called on the government and the opposition for a preparatory meeting at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa under the auspices of the African mechanism in preparation for a comprehensive national dialogue, however, the government refuses to hold any dialogue abroad.

According to the joint statement of both parties on Wednesday, they reiterated their commitment to national and serious comprehensive dialogue, which should be  to be preceded by a preparatory meeting in Addis Ababa.

The meeting acknowledged the need for coordination among the opposition forces so as to develop a vision for the next phase and create mechanisms for such coordination.