Day: October 3, 2021

16 Political and armed groups signed a new charter calling for national consensus among the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) and blamed some of its components for monopolizing power.

The new alliance gathers, among others, the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Minnawi, Justice and Equality Movement of Gibril Ibrahim, Kush Liberation Movement, SPLM-N Ismail Jalab, Democratic Alliance for Social Justice of Ali Askouri.

They signed a new charter entitled “The National Consensus Charter for the Unity of the Forces of Freedom and Change”

The participants chanted a new version of the December Revolution slogan “Freedom, peace and justice, and unity is the people’s choice” instead of “Freedom, peace and justice, and revolution is the people’s choice”.

In their speeches, Minnawi and Ibrahim denounced the monopoly of power by four components of the FFC saying they have excluded the other groups that participated with them in the struggle against the former regime.

Minnawi called to review all the appointments that took place after the collapse of the former regime.

While Ibrahim, in his speech, insisted on the need to review the Empowerment Removal Committee adding that “civil servants should not be removed for political affiliation”.

We refuse “to deprive a citizen of working in public institutions because of his political affiliation. Also we refuse to take people’s money unfairly and defame them before completing the legal procedures”, he added.

JEM leader has always voiced his opposition to the removal committee and called to task the courts with its attributions.

Ibrahim Alamin, a leading figure of the National Umma Party arrived at the meeting hall but left immediately pointing to the presence of members of the former regime.

The signing of the FFC consensus charter intervenes days after a failed coup attempt carried out by Islamists officers.

Also, the civilian and military components traded accusations over their responsibility for the slow pace of democratic reforms.

In a statement published on the official Facebook page of the Sudanese army, al-Burhan’s Media Adviser and the army Spokesman Tahir Abu Haja welcomed calls to return to the “founding platform” and described the Saturday meeting as “a return to truth and comprehensive national consensus.”

“Those who refuse to return to the platform will be overtaken by events and will not be able to stand in the way of the sweeping mass current that expresses the will of the people who refuse to give priority to narrow partisan interest over the national interest, and who refuse to leave the fate of the revolution in the hands of a few who monopolize opportunities and lead the country according to their whims,” he wrote without mentioning the FFC.

On Friday, the head of the Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan sent a letter to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Chairperson of the Security Council for September Geraldine Byrne Nason of Ireland.

According to a statement by the Sovereign Council, al-Burhan reiterated his determination to protect the democratic transition in Sudan until the general elections which will take place within two years.

The ruling coalition FFC did not issue a statement in response to these developments.

Also, the other signatory groups of the Juba Peace Agreement did not comment on the establishment of the new alliance.

Al-Hadi Idriss, Member of the Sovereign Council and Chairperson of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front will hold a press conference on the first anniversary of the Juba Peace Agreement.

Source: Sudan Tribune

A South Sudanese civil society body has welcomed the recent meeting between a faction of the armed opposition movement (SPLM/A-IO) and a government delegation, describing it as a pathway for resolving political grievances within the party.

This week, a South Sudanese government delegation headed an advisor to President Salva Kiir met the Kit-Gwang group of the SPLM-IO at a meeting held in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organisation (CEPO), Edmund Yakani said the meeting in Khartoum is a “positive” development towards implementation of the peace agreement.

“Compromise is required from every faction of the SPLM/A-IO in the conflict. This recent attitudes of waging violence for the gain of power and wealth are becoming clear. The SPLM/A-IO leadership in conflict should understand that there is an end for everything,” he explained.

The activist urged political elites across South Sudan with their different political motives to understand that the only political framework that can help with regional and international acceptance for transitioning from violence to peace is the genuine implementation of the R-ARCSS.

“Any attempt to fail the R-ARCSS [Agreement on Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan] implementation is not healthy for the national stabilization in all aspects of governance. The stability and peace of country should be top priority of all priorities of any entity with motivation of sitting in the government,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, Yakani urged parties to the peace agreement to renew their pledge for genuine implementation of the accord that ended the five-year civil war.

The Kitgwang Declaration was a coup by South Sudanese rebel commander Simon Gatwech Dual on August 4, 2021, in which he replaced First Vice President Riek Machar as leader of the SPLM/A-IO leading to a deadly rebel infighting. Gatwech issued a communiqué following a meeting of opposition commanders at Kitgwang in Magenis, a northern-most town bordering Sudan, declaring that Machar had been removed as the leader of the SPLM-IO and that he has assumed power as the new opposition leader.

Machar, however, responded with another communiqué following a meeting of the SPLM-IO Political Bureau in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, and then accused unnamed “peace spoilers” of engineering the opposition split

Source: Sudan Tribune

Leaders of the civilian ruling coalition Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) released strong statements directed at Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sovereign Council, dismissing claims that they monopolize power.

The head of the Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said that four FFC groups control the transitional cabinet and want to impose their partisan agenda in the transitional period.

Ibrahim al-Sheikh, a leading FFC member and Minister of Industry released a statement on Saturday saying they share power with the armed movements that signed the Juba Peace Agreement, while al-Burhan alone controls the security services and economic military companies.

“Since two years ago, you have been the Chairman of its Sovereign Council, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the Chairman of the Interim Legislative Council, the Chairman of the Security and Defence Council, the Chairman of the Council of Transition’s Partners, and the President of the High Peace Council,” al-Sheikh said.

The FFC control 18 portfolios of 26 ministries, the armed groups six ministries in addition to three seats at the Sovereign Council and the position of Darfur region governor, the military have two ministries.

“You control 10 billion-dollar companies that manufacture weapons, cars, planes, skewers, and pipes Also, have offices around the world that manage slaughterhouses and export meat,” he added.

He further wondered why the head of the Sovereign Council complains after all that.

Several armed groups and some political groups established a new alliance welcomed by the military under the name of the FFC calling to review the power-sharing between the different components of the transitional government.

For his part, Abbas Madani an FFC member and former minister in the first Hamdok government spoke about a planned coup by the military and their allied groups.

“The battle is not over the FFC reform (…) but with the head of the Sovereign Council, who is circumventing the Constitutional Document’s benchmarks. He and his deputy do not want to reform the military and security sector and establish a unified army,” Madani stressed.

He added that the civilian forces should not be distracted by a dispute with their supporters from the political groups but should be focused on the achievement of the democratic reforms.

Source: Sudan Tribune