Questions and answers
The UN envoy, Volker Peretz, said that the mission will start an individual, indirect dialogue with all the main forces to find out their visions and perceptions, and that the agenda of the dialogue will be set by the Sudanese themselves, and the United Nations will support them until they reach the democratic transition.
Khartoum- Amid international and regional welcomes for the launch of an initiative by the head of the UN mission in Sudan, Volker Peretz, to get out of the deepening political crisis, the Sudanese political forces were divided between those who welcomed them, and others who set conditions for their acceptance, while others rejected them and considered them as consolidation of the “coup” authority.
The United Nations Mission “UNITAMS” was established pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 2524, at the request of the Sudanese government, to support the democratic transition. civilians and the rule of law, as well as supporting and coordinating economic, development and humanitarian assistance in Sudan.
A statement issued by the mission stated that the political process will be inclusive of all, and that the main “stakeholders”, civilian and military, including armed movements, political parties, civil society, women’s groups and resistance committees, will be invited to participate in the political process that will be facilitated by the United Nations.
What are the Sudanese forces that welcomed the international call for dialogue?
Many political forces welcomed Volcker’s call for dialogue between the Sudanese parties. In addition to the military establishment that announced the approval of the Sovereign Council headed by General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan on the invitation, came the parties that were not part of the previous governments of the transitional period, led by the Popular Congress Party, which splintered from the National Congress that ruled the country during the era of President Omar al-Bashir.
The parties that joined the so-called Freedom and Change (National Accord), and other parties that supported the “corrective measures of the revolution”, as Al-Burhan called them on October 25, responded to the call in the affirmative.
What is the position of the armed movements of the international call?
The armed movements that will be covered by the international call for the political process are divided into two groups: the first is the movements affiliated with the Sudanese Revolutionary Front, led by the People’s Movement headed by Malik Agar, a member of the Sovereign Council, and the Justice and Equality Movement, as well as the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Moni Arko Minawi, which split from the Revolutionary Front Before signing the “Juba” agreement.
These movements are the ones that signed the Juba Peace Agreement with the government in August 2020, and they have participated and are still in the transitional governing bodies since that date, and they welcomed the UN initiative.
As for the second group of armed struggle movements, it includes the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement led by Abdel Aziz Al-Hilu, and the Sudan Liberation Army Movement led by Abdel Wahed Mohamed Nour, and they still bear arms and have not yet signed a peace agreement with the Sudanese government.
In a press statement, the head of the popular movement in Khartoum, Mohamed Youssef, considered the initiative “a new international attempt to circumvent the revolutionaries in the street,” and said that “the dialogue should not be with those involved in the blood of the Sudanese.” This position is supported by the head of the Sudan Liberation Army, Abdel Wahed Mohamed Nour, in his refusal to dialogue with those he called “the putschists”, calling for the overthrow of the “coup” first.
Is the position of the Forces for Freedom and Change (Central Council) unified?
The Forces of Freedom and Change are the group of political parties, civil forces and the gathering of professionals that signed the constitutional document with the military component, and represented the political incubator for Hamdok’s first and second governments before his overthrow and by the Forces of Freedom and Change after Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency in the country.
These parties and forces represent a broad alliance at the top of which stands the National Umma Party alongside the Baath Party, the Sudanese Congress, and the Unionist Union, but their position seems divided between themselves, between those who support international mediation and reject it.
While a statement on behalf of this coalition confirmed that it would consider the invitation when it was received, and at the same time stressed the work to bring down the “coup” of October 25, its components expressed different positions; The leader of the Sudanese Congress, Ibrahim Al-Sheikh, welcomed the international mediation, and a statement by the National Umma Party said that it would discuss the invitation when it was received and would decide on it based on the dialogue agenda presented for discussion.
On the other hand, the Sudanese Professionals Association, the most prominent component of the coalition, expressed its categorical rejection of the UN initiative, considering it an “attempt to push for normalization with the criminals of the coup military council.”
Where is the Communist Party and the Resistance Committees of this initiative?
Since its departure from the Forces of Freedom and Change, the Communist Party has been calling for the overthrow of the transitional government and refusing to negotiate with the military. It renewed its position after the October 25 procedures, which it considered a “coup” and the subsequent measures.
In a letter addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on Saturday, the party affirmed its insistence not to partner with the current military authority, and not to adopt the constitutional document as a legal basis to address the political crisis in the country.
Some party leaders said, in press statements, that they would not adopt international calls for dialogue in the media unless they reached them through official channels.
As for the resistance committees, spearheading the demonstrations in the streets of Sudan, their field position seems to reject dialogue with the ruling authority now, and they adopt the slogan “no negotiation, no partnership, no legitimacy,” but unlike political and civil forces, they pursue a horizontal structure without a unified central leadership. And its coordinators put forward a set of charters to come up with unified visions.
What did Volker Peretz say about his initiative?
The head of the UN mission in Sudan, Volker Peretz, denied that his initiative contained specific provisions or a charter, and confirmed today, Monday, in a press statement, that what some media outlets have reported about the initiative is not true.
Peretz said that the mission will start an individual, indirect dialogue with all the main forces to find out their visions and perceptions, and that the agenda of the dialogue will be set by the Sudanese themselves, and the United Nations will support them until they reach the democratic transition.