Sudan's Ruling Party Accuses Troika of Backing Rebel Groups
24 JUNE 2014
Khartoum - Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) has accused the
troika group comprised of Norway, United Kingdom and the United States of
being biased in favor of the rebel groups.
The NCP political secretary, Mustafa Osman Ismail, said the troika
contradicts itself when it speaks of supporting the national dialogue while
taking the side of the armed movements.
He criticized stances of some western countries, saying they seek to
sabotage dialogue among Sudanese political forces.
Ismail, according to the government-sponsored Sudan Media Center (SMC)
website, said that the troika's recent statement adopts the rebels'
positions.
He called on the West to be part of the solution and not the problem.
"I'm convinced that the national dialogue is facing difficulties and part of
those difficulties is the intransigence of the armed groups and leftist
political parties", he said.
The troika in a statement released on 10 June expressed regret that Khartoum
took actions of late that have enabled some to raise doubts about the
sincerity of its call for national dialogue initiative.
"Most notably, the government continues to wage a war and target civilians
in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile and bears primary responsibility for
intensifying the conflict in Darfur, where some 300,000 have been displaced
this year ... Similarly, the government's restriction and increased
repression of individual, political, and press freedoms limits the space
necessary for a successful national dialogue; such a process will", the
statement reads.
The rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) had adopted the troika
statement and called upon the UN Security Council (UNSC) to oblige Khartoum
to commit itself to specific schedules and timelines to resolve the
country's issues.
Ismail noted that the troika should have urged both the government and
political parties which refused to participate in the dialogue not to
obstruct the process.
"It would have been acceptable if [the statement] had mentioned it in that
balanced way, however, the biased positions of the troika prevents it from
taking this balanced position", he added
He further called for adherence to dialogue as the only means for building
Sudan's future, saying dialogue must not be tied to the will of a single
party or individual because it is a national scheme which seeks to put an
end to foreign interventions in the country's internal affairs.
The NCP official praised positions of China, African Union (AU), Arab League
(AL), and the United Nations in support of the national dialogue.
Last January, Bashir called on political parties and armed groups to engage
in a national dialogue to discuss four issues, including ending the civil
war, allowing political freedoms, fighting against poverty and revitalising
national identity.
He also held a political roundtable in Khartoum last month with the
participation of 83 political parties.
The opposition alliance of the National Consensus Forces (NCF) boycotted the
political roundtable, saying the government did not respond to its
conditions.
Rapprochement between the government and opposition parties which agreed to
participate in the dialogue has begun to stumble following detention of the
National Umma Party (NUP) chief al-Sadiq al-Mahdi last month.
The NUP and the opposition Reform Now Party (RNP) suspended participation to
protest al-Mahdi's arrest and what they said was a government crackdown on
political and media liberties.