KHARTOUM – Sudan’s Dialogue Preparatory Committee expects efforts toward a Sudanese-led political dialogue to accelerate after talks with leaders of the Democratic Bloc, as both sides called for the process to be held inside Sudan and led by Sudanese political forces.
Committee spokesperson Osman Mirghani Abdullah said the meeting with Democratic Bloc leader Jaafar Al-Sadiq Mohammed Osman Al-Mirghani and other senior officials had produced what he described as useful proposals and experience that would help advance preparations for the dialogue.
The meeting was held at the Al-Sayyid Ali Al-Mirghani complex in central Khartoum and focused on preparations for launching the political process, concerns previously raised by the Democratic Bloc and ways to strengthen coordination between the two sides.
Mirghani said proposals presented by Democratic Bloc leaders would be incorporated into the committee’s agenda as it works to move from the preparatory stage toward formal dialogue.
He said holding the meeting at a site with historical and political significance reflected an effort to return national political discussions to Sudan after years in which many negotiations and political initiatives were conducted abroad.
Al-Mirghani, who heads the Freedom and Change Alliance’s Democratic Bloc and serves as deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party-Original, reaffirmed his coalition’s support for a Sudanese-led dialogue conducted inside the country.
He said preparations for the process were a shared responsibility between political forces and the Dialogue Preparatory Committee and stressed that no meaningful dialogue could proceed without the participation of Sudanese political groups.
Al-Mirghani said the difficult conditions facing the country had increased the importance of political dialogue and that the Democratic Bloc had become more supportive of moving forward with the process.
He called for the dialogue to remain entirely Sudanese, take place inside the country and focus on Sudan’s national interests.
Mirghani said the committee and the Democratic Bloc discussed steps required to address longstanding political disputes and create conditions for restoring stability.
He added that Sudanese citizens were increasingly waiting for tangible results from the dialogue rather than an extended preparatory process.
The committee said it plans to continue meetings with the Democratic Bloc and other political forces as part of efforts to broaden participation in the process.
The initiative comes as Sudan remains divided by the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, which began in April 2023 and has displaced millions of people, damaged state institutions and deepened political fragmentation.
Efforts to establish a national political process have faced longstanding disagreements over participation, the role of armed and political groups, the location of talks and the relationship between dialogue and efforts to end the war.
The latest meeting signals an attempt to build support among domestic political actors for a process centered inside Sudan, although no date has yet been announced for the formal launch of the dialogue.
