Sudan’s principal civilian political blocs are deeply divided over whether to participate in an African Union-mediated dialogue scheduled for early October in Addis Ababa.
The talks aim to establish a roadmap for a comprehensive political process and a transition to civilian governance. While the “Somoud” coalition,headed by former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok,has conditionally agreed to attend,other major groups have expressed strong opposition.
These factions argue they were entirely excluded from the preparatory stages,leaving them unaware of the agenda,participant list,or management methodology for the crucial meeting.
The criticism was spearheaded by Tijani Sisi of the National Movement Forces and reinforced by Yasir Arman’s Revolutionary Democratic Current,which condemned the invitation as being unilaterally designed and failing to address the severe humanitarian crisis.
They demand a transparent dialogue to fundamentally redesign the process. Meanwhile,AU diplomatic sources clarified that while a broad spectrum of civilian and political groups received invitations,Islamist forces tied to the former regime were explicitly excluded—a move likely intended to prevent a mass boycott by other key civilian stakeholders. This initiative follows a recent proposal by the Quad nations (the U.S.,Saudi Arabia,the UAE,and Egypt) for a renewable three-month truce and a nine-month transition to civilian rule.
United News - unews.co.za