AMSTERDAM

(

8 Oct

.) -

The National Dialogue, initiated by President Omar al Bashir early this year, in an attempt to form a broad government, including opposition parties and forces, is “nothing more than a distraction”.

Dr Sharif Harir, Darfuri scholar and politician, told Radio Dabanga that President Al Bashir, with his invitation to all political forces in Sudan to join the National Dialogue, wanted to distract the Sudanese from the political, economic, and financial crises in the country. “Besides, the president intends to gain legitimacy again through a forged selection of a presidential candidate in October, for the April 2015 general elections.”

Former agreements

Harir stressed in an interview with Radio Dabanga on Monday that no one should trust any promise made by the Sudanese president. “All the agreements signed with the Khartoum regime in the past have not been implemented.”

Concerning the Paris Declaration, signed by the opposition National Umma Party (NUP) and the Sudan Revolutionary Front, (SRF, an alliance of the main rebel movements) on 8 August, and the Addis Ababa National Dialogue principles agreement signed by the SRF, NUP, and representatives of the National Dialogue mechanism on 4 September under the auspices of the AU high-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), the Darfuri scholar commented that both documents do not contain “anything new”.

In addition, the fact that the Sudanese government representatives in Addis Ababa refused to sign the same sheet of paper as the SRF and the NUP means, Harir stressed, that the Khartoum regime does not acknowledge the legitimacy of the agreement.

The eight-point text of the Addis Ababa National Dialogue agreement was signed in separate documents, one by the NUP and the SRF, and the other by two members of the National Dialogue Steering Committee. andnbsp;

File photo: President Omar Al Bashir at Khartoum airport

Arabic Forum