Meeting of the African Mechanism on Sudan with the National Congress Party in Cairo (African Union)

Observers believe that holding the first official announced meeting between the African Union mechanism to resolve the Sudanese crisis and the “formerly ruling” National Congress Party led by deposed President Omar al-Bashir since the overthrow of his regime and the dissolution of the party about 5 years ago, is a step for the return of the banned party to the political scene in the troubled country.

Opponents of Al-Bashir's party criticized the African Union mechanism and rejected any attempt to involve the party in the political process and return it to the scene. They considered it a reward for the crimes committed by the previous regime over three decades and a blow to the popular revolution that removed it, and they pledged to resist any step in this direction.

The December 2018 revolution overthrew the National Congress Party and its president, Omar al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan for nearly 30 years after he came to power through a military coup on June 30, 1989.

A joint meeting between the Transitional Sovereignty Council and the Council of Ministers (temporary parliament) in November 2019 approved the “Dismantling the Rescue System” law.

The law stipulated the dissolution of the National Congress Party, its deletion from the register of political organizations and parties in Sudan, as well as the dissolution of all the interfaces it used and other organizations affiliated with it or any person or entity associated with it, and the confiscation of its property and assets for the benefit of the state.

However, leaders and cadres in the party continued to participate in political and social activities and events under other umbrellas, and leaked information about unannounced meetings between party figures, foreign diplomats, and opposition figures that took place inside and outside the country.

Days after the outbreak of war in Khartoum, thousands of prison inmates and detainees emerged, including dozens of Islamist figures and leaders, some of whom were being tried for participating in planning and implementing Al-Bashir’s coup.

Open a new page

The surprise meeting between the high-level African Mechanism on Sudan and representatives of the dissolved National Congress Party in Cairo last Wednesday came as part of meetings held by the Mechanism with the Sudanese parties to stop the ongoing war and hold a Sudanese-Sudanese dialogue table.

On the part of the National Congress Party, the meeting included the former Minister of Welfare and Social Development, Amira Al-Fadil, and the former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Osama Faisal, while the African delegation included the head of the mechanism, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the African Union’s High Envoy to Silencing the Guns, Simbiosa Wandira, the former Ugandan Vice President, and Francisco Wandira, the former African Union envoy. To Somalia.

A leader in the National Congress Party told Al Jazeera Net that the meeting - which was at the request of the African Mechanism - focused on discussing 3 issues that included ways to stop the war, the humanitarian conditions in light of the war that has been ongoing for about 11 months, and holding a comprehensive Sudanese-Sudanese dialogue conference with African facilitation.

The leader - who preferred to remain anonymous - told Al Jazeera Net that their delegation informed the mechanism that their firm position is to support the armed forces and other regular forces, and to support the popular resistance and state institutions.

He reported that they stressed the need to reach a just and comprehensive peace, so that the Sudanese can enjoy stability, and to support women and children to avoid the effects, violations and intimidation associated with the war.

He added that they informed the African Mechanism of their call to “open a new page in which everyone can rise above the wounds,” and their adherence to a pure Sudanese dialogue without external interference, and to include everyone without excluding or isolating any party to ensure a Sudan free from the war and its consequences and to establish foundations for a better future for the Sudanese people.

Revolution is more lasting than war

For his part, the Islamic writer and former Minister of Information in the White Nile State, Abdel Majid Abdel Hamid, believes that the meeting of representatives of the National Congress with the African Mechanism was not the first, and the party remained in contact with international and regional forces and influential Arab, African and Gulf countries on the Sudanese scene.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, the writer explains that international actors are aware of the importance and influence of the Islamists, their weight, and their possession of a disciplined political and social base. He continues that the Rapid Support Leadership knows this, but its allies in the Forces of Freedom and Change do not realize this matter.

He adds that the regional powers found themselves forced to deal with the National Congress as a fait accompli, after they concluded through their follow-up of events in Sudan that the party cannot be written off with slogans or fragile alliances.

For his part, Yasser Arman, a member of the leadership office of the Coordination of Civil Democratic Forces “Taqaddam,” described the National Conference’s meeting with the African Mechanism as “unfortunate and weakens confidence” in the mechanism.

He stated in a tweet, “The National Congress Party was overthrown by a popular revolution without its return, and the lives and lives of the daughters and sons of our people were lost.”

Arman added, "The National Congress Party's participation or return will be its reward for its war, and it will find fierce resistance from the forces of the December 2018 revolution. Despite the conditions of war and suffering, the revolution is more lasting than war," stressing that any internal or external circles will not be able to impose on the people what they want. He doesn't want it.

password

Professor of political science and researcher at the International University of Africa, Dr. Mohamed Khalifa Siddiq, believes that the “password” in the African Mechanism’s meeting with the National Congress is the head of the Mechanism, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, a veteran Guinean diplomat and former head of the joint United Nations and African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID), due to his awareness and knowledge. Details of the complexities of the Sudanese file and the roots of the crisis.

According to the researcher’s statement to Al Jazeera Net, Ibn Chambas knows the importance of the National Congress in the political equation in Sudan and the difficulty of excluding and isolating it in light of the current conditions, because he has been running the country for 30 years, and dealt with complex crises during that period, and therefore dealing with him will be useful for those who want to make a breakthrough. In the Sudanese crisis.

The researcher believes that the Sudanese-Sudanese dialogue, which does not exclude anyone, is the key to resolving the current crisis, and that the political exclusion witnessed in the previous stage was a fundamental reason for the deterioration of the situation until the country reached its lowest point.

It is likely that the African Union will move towards a comprehensive Sudanese dialogue, because it has become convinced that it is the shortest way to achieve a breakthrough, especially since it has tried other methods that did not bear fruit, and it has also seen other initiatives that have reached a dead end, such as the initiative of the Intergovernmental Authority for the Development of East Africa (IGAD).

Source: Al Jazeera