The United Nations says it has begun talks in Sudan to save the transition to democracy after the military coup.
The UN Special Rapporteur, Volker Perthes, told reporters that the military did not challenge the initiative when the UN officials contacted political parties in Sudan to find way forward.
“We want to act quickly,” he said.
The plan by the UN currently represents the only substantive effort to resolve the political crisis.
The October military takeover destroyed a power-sharing agreement with private leaders aimed at paving the way for the 2019 post-overthrow elections of Omar al-Bashir leaders.
The coup also blocked the opening of the Western-backed economy after decades of isolation and sanctions.
Protesters regularly appear on the streets demanding civilian control. Medical personnel said that more than 60 people died in clashes with security agencies.
“We hope these talks will be like confidence-building measures, at least, to help reduce violence,” Perthes said.
Protesters and political parties expelled by the coup have so far refused to negotiate directly with the military.
The United Nations will begin by approaching the groups individually, hoping to move to the second phase of direct or indirect negotiations, Perthes said.
The first session, on Monday afternoon, would be attended by a civil society group.
“We will have different stakeholders talking to each other every day,” he said.
UN officials urged the group to present a vision for progress at the end of the meeting with the aim of forming an agreement on agreements and disagreements.
In a statement, late Monday, the military-led Sovereign Council welcomed the initiative and called for the participation of the African Union.
Perthes said that only Bashir’s former ruling party and the Sudanese Communist Party rejected the initiative altogether.
He said it would be difficult to set a time frame to finish and start negotiations, and if an additional week or two was needed, no strict deadline will be imposed.
Further large-scale protests against the military are planned, with another round scheduled for Wednesday.
UN begins talks in Sudan to resolve post-coup crisis.
(Reuters/NAN).
