UN to facilitate political dialogue in Sudan

The UN mission in Sudan is launching a mediation process between all Sudanese stakeholders in an effort to broker an as-yet-elusive agreement to pull the country out the current political standoff and set it back on the path to stability and democratic transition.

It was not immediately clear when the mediation will formally begin, but the 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.

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. "We look forward to the initiative making a real breakthrough towards solving the current Sudanese political crisis", said Al-Hadi Idris, member of the Sudan's transitional sovereign council, stressing that "Sudan is at a crossroads and requires international intervention".

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the US and the UK — known collectively as the Quad for Sudan — as well as the Arab League have also expressed support for the initiative. But Sudan's main opposition coalition, the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), has said it will reserve judgement until it is given full details of the proposed process.

By Ieva Paldaviciute