Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2016 22:00:38 +0100
- President Omer al-Bashir speaking at the opening of the second parliamentary session 19 Oct 2015 (Photo SUNA)
The internal dialogue conference was inaugurated in Khartoum on October 10 th, 2015 amid large boycott from the major political and armed opposition.
Bashir, who received the recommendations of the societal dialogue Monday, described those recommendations as “commands issued by the Sudanese people”, saying the government has no option but to carry out those commands.
“We say to the mercenaries who are staying in the hotels abroad and being funded by the American and Israeli intelligence and all those staying in the hotels of Washington, Paris and Tel Aviv, the Sudanese people no longer care about you,” he said.
“We say to the whole world and the colonial powers and on top of them the United States of America we are free people and we wouldn’t bow or prostrate except for Almighty Allah [God],” he added.
It is worth to mention that the political forces members of the opposition alliance National Consensus Forces (NCF) and other parties refuse to take part in the dialogue conference before the creation of a conducive environment and the implementation of specific confidence-building measures provided in a roadmap proposed by the African Union mediation team.
Some significant political parties, such as the National Umma Party, the Reform Now Movement and the Just Peace Forum, that approved the process in the beginning. But later they suspended their participation, criticizing the government refusal to postpone the general elections and the lack of political freedoms.
Also, the major armed movements in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile refrained from participating in the dialogue conference citing similar demands.
The Sudanese President further said the recommendations and programmes submitted by the political and societal dialogue committees would resolve Sudan’s entire problems, vowing to build a new Sudan in which all people enjoy equal citizenship irrespective of their tribes or social classes.
Meanwhile, Sudan’s First Vice-President Bakri Hassan Salih said the declared and undeclared peace talks between the government and rebels in Addis Ababa represent an integrated programme for the government in the coming period.
Salih, who addressed the 2015 performance evaluation conference Monday, called upon arms bearers to join the peace process, praising the participation of several armed groups in the dialogue conference.
He said the dialogue initiative represent the biggest national project to be launched since 60 years, adding it allows the Sudanese people to discuss the entire national issues inside Sudan in order to achieve security and stability.
Salih stressed that the political and societal dialogue conference doesn’t exclude anyone, saying it aims to develop a vision for the future of Sudan.