The UN mission in Sudan said on Saturday it is launching a mediation process between all Sudanese stakeholders in an effort to end the ongoing political crisis.
Neighbourhood-based resistance committees, political parties and other pro-democracy groups have carried out an ongoing campaign of protests under a “no negotiation” slogan, and crackdowns by security forces have left at least 60 dead.
The mediation process aims to be inclusive with “all key civilian and military stakeholders, including armed movements, political parties, civil society, women’s groups, and resistance committees invited to participate,” the UN’s integrated transition assistance mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) said late on 8 January.
It was not immediately clear when the mediation will formally begin.
This is the latest attempt by the international community to help Sudan find its way out of the current crisis which was triggered by a military coup in October that saw the civilian-backed prime minister Abdalla Hamdok temporarily ousted, just weeks before the country’s leadership was scheduled to be handed over to a civilian government.
Hamdok was reinstated in November as part of a heavily criticized deal struck between the military and the civilian leadership, but he resigned last week saying his efforts to restore stability had hit a dead end.
Sudan now remains engulfed in protests with protesters demanding civilian rule, leading to increasingly brutal clashes between civilians and military forces.
“The current political impasse may slide the country further into instability and squander the important political, social and economic gains made since the revolution”, said Volker Perthes, the head of UNITAMS. “All measures taken to date have not succeeded in restoring the course of this transformation in a manner that meets the aspirations of the Sudanese people.”
The UNITAMS initiative has been welcomed by both Sudanese and international stakeholders.
The Quad group, comprising Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Britain and the United States, voiced backing for the UN effort.
“We strongly support this UN-facilitated, Sudanese-led dialogue initiative,” a group statement said. “We urge all Sudanese political actors to seize this opportunity to restore the country’s transition to civilian democracy.”
Sudan’s main opposition coalition, the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), said in a statement it welcomed “any international effort that contributes to achieving the goals of the Sudanese people in combating the coup and establishing a civil and democratic state”.
Source: Radio Tamazuj