‘National Dialogue document positive step’: Sudan opposition

The Sudanese Communist Party and the Popular Congress Party have cautiously reacted to the results of the consultation meetings between the AU High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) and the leaders of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), and the agreement signed by the SRF, the National Umma Party (NUP), and two members of the National Dialogue Steering Committee in Addis Ababa on Thursday. The spokesman for the SCP, Yousef Hussein, informed Radio Dabanga that “despite the positive statements in the agreement about the National Dialogue, the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) is not a party to the agreement, as it was signed by representatives of the 7+7 Steering Committee”. “This makes the agreement merely a statement of principles that requires new negotiations, and accords to which the Sudanese government is also a party”, he stressed. “The developments in Addis Ababa may constitute a positive and peaceful step towards the dismantling of the Khartoum regime, or a way out for the regime from the crises it created, without being held accountable. The last possibility would not solve the crises, but would just create new ones instead.”   At the end of the meetings between AUHIP team, and the SRF and NUP in last week, leaders of the SRF and NUP, discussed the National Dialogue process, launched by President Omar Al Bashir, with two members of the National Dialogue’s Steering Committee, Dr Ghazi Salaheldin El Atabani, chairman of the Reform Now Movement (RNM), and Ahmed Saad Omar, Minister at the Presidency, and prominent member of the mainstream Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). The meeting resulted in the signing of an eight-point document, titled Agreement on the National Dialogue and Constitutional Process. According to the document, the National Dialogue process should not go forward without first agreeing on “rules and procedures”. This would mean that another more detailed framework accord is required before the SRF and the NUP will actually participate in the process. The National Dialogue’s Steering Committee consists of representatives of seven pro-government political parties, including the NCP and the DUP, and seven opposition parties, among them the RNM and the Popular Congress Party (PCP), led by Dr Hassan El Turabi. ‘Positive step’ The PCP called the agreement between the SRF, NUP, and the 7+7 Steering Committee “a positive step, but incomplete”. “The requirements for a conducive national dialogue have not been met, of which the most important ones are the release of political detainees, the stoppage of the civil wars, and the construction of humanitarian corridors for the benefit of the civilians affected by the war in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile,” Kamal Omar, PCP’s Political Secretary told Radio Dabanga. “The PCP joined the National Dialogue process, because it considers it a great opportunity to resolve the crises in the country, yet on the condition that it will be a comprehensive dialogue, including all political forces, that should be led by the SRF rebel alliance and the National Consensus Forces (a coalition of opposition parties),” Omar explained. File photo: Part of the Agreement on the National Dialogue and Constitutional Process  Related:AU welcomes Sudan agreement on National Dialogue (7 September 2014)Sudan committee, opposition agree on National Dialogue (5 September 2014) Sudan’s rebels conclude consultations with AU panel (4 September 2014)