President Omar Al Bashir has reiterated his call on all political forces to join the National Dialogue, in order to build a “secure, stable and inclusive country”. He also said that National Umma Party (NUP) leader El Sadig El Mahdi will be detained upon his return, in case he does not renounce the Paris Declaration. Furthermore, the Sudanese government will not accept any alternative for the 2011 Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD). The upcoming round of peace negotiations between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) should be restricted to a ceasefire accord.
In his address to the general convention of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in Khartoum on Saturday, Al Bashir reiterated that the national dialogue initiative targets all the political forces and armed movements without exclusion. He stressed that the call for the broad dialogue is not based on “the government’s weakness”. “Some think we are fed up and we want to get ourselves out of a mess,” he said. “We will die erect, like palm trees.”
Paris Declaration
The President accused “certain circles” of intending to use the National Dialogue to implement their agenda for regime change, warning that “an endless dialogue and absolute freedom will lead to divisions.” “Those who talk about freedom should know that freedom has a limit. They should not touch national security or undermine the morale of our fighters.”
He pointed in this context to the Paris Declaration, signed by the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF, an alliance of the main rebel movements) and the NUP on 8 August, in which the signatories call for a radical political change towards a democratic Sudan, and warned that if NUP leader El Sadig El Mahdi does not renounce the contents of the Declaration, he will be detained upon his return to Sudan.
Peace talks
Regarding the stance of the rebel forces for a comprehensive solution for the crises in Sudan, Al Bashir emphasised that “all issues of the country can be discussed at the national dialogue forum, without preconditions”.
“Yes, we have called upon the so-called SRF to engage in dialogue, but that does not mean an invitation to them to engage in political activity in Khartoum with their arms. Freedom will be granted to those who have laid down their arms to exercise political activity.”
The President added that he will never allow the allied rebels to take over the peace negation processes, saying that the resumption of the Sudanese government-SPLM-N peace talks on South Kordofan and the Blue Nile, to start in Addis Ababa under auspices of the AU High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) on 12 October, will be limited to a ceasefire. According to Al Bashir, the protocols on the Two Areas of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement have covered already the issues of power and wealth sharing.
Regarding the negotiations with the Darfur rebel movements, scheduled by the AUHIP team to commence on 15 October, Al Bashir said that the Darfur rebel movements should join the DDPD signatories, brokered by Qatar in 2011, considering this peace agreement the sole mechanism for peace in Darfur.
Economy, elections
Al Bashir acknowledged that the country has arrived at a critical juncture, but stressed that though Sudan is suffering from economic problems, there is “no economic collapse”. “Rising prices and a high inflation rate are normal. We lost oil and we got gold.”
The Sudanese president also stated that the 2015 elections will take place as scheduled in April, because “a constitutional vacuum and chaotic situation will never be allowed”. “Five years are quite enough to get ready for elections,” he noted.
