Sudan’s civilian coalition sets preconditions for talks with al Burhan

KHARTOUM – The Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition said they have no dialogue with the military council adding that any negotiation with the army should be after the restoration of the civilian-led transition and release of political detainees.

A series of local and international efforts have been recently undertaken in the Sudanese capital to overcome the current crisis in the country after the military takeover on 25 October.

The coup leaders in Sudan have been accused of seeking to divide the FFC groups to create a new political alliance that can ensure their continuation in power. They received a number of FFC political officials and allowed them to meet Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok who is under house arrest.

However, Al-Wathiq Albreir, a member of the FFC leadership Council and National Umma Party (NUP) Secretary-General told Aljazeera TV that all the meetings held with the coup leaders are individual initiatives by some political and civil society figures seeking to narrow the gaps between the FFC and the military council.

On Sunday, Hamdok met with the NUP acting Chairman Fadlallah Burma, Haider al-Safi and Youssef Mohamed Zain, all of them are members of the FFC Central Council, in addition to Mudawi Ibrahim, a university professor and civil society activist. Their meeting with the Prime Minister came after a meeting with the head of the Military Council, Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan.

According to Shehab Ibrahim a-Tayeb another FFC leading member and Spokesman for the Sudanese National Alliance,  the group had made an offer to Hamdok from the military to give up the position of Prime Minister and to join the Transitional Sovereign Council.

Speaking to the London-based Al-Quds newspaper, al-Tayeb added that Hamdok rejected the offer, stressing his commitment to what the FFC would decide on this respect, and reiterated his demand to return the transitional government as before the October 25 coup.

He said that the FFC Central Council agreed on four basic conditions the military should meet before accepting any initiative; restoring the full constitutional declaration, the release of all detainees including Hamdok, the reinstatement of Hamdok and his government, the handover of power to civilians, as well as the FFC unification.

The FFC say that adherence to the Constitutional Document remains a key condition for any dialogue with the military component because any dialogue without a constitutional frame would be useless.

For his part, Albreir stressed that the acting NUP head does not represent the party’s position and that his participation in the initiative is individual.

“We want a partnership with the military during the transitional period, but according to an agreed constitutional reference,” Albreir stressed.

South Sudan and Arab League delegations did not meet with the FFC but only met with the army generals and the prime minister.

The Sudanese Communist Party, which rejects the participation of the military in power, called for the formation of a new political alliance to overthrow the coup leaders establish civilian rule.

The Sudanese Professionals Association also made a similar proposal.