Sudan's Ruling Coalition... Will It Stay United or Disintegrate?

Features

August 23rd, 11:51am

Khartoum- Mohammed Amin Yassine

From protests in Khartoum demanding the achievement of the revolution's goals, Wednesday. (EPA)

The Sudanese had high hopes for the transitional government and its ability to drastically change the country after the popular revolution overthrew Omar al-Bashir regime and a transitional government was subsequently formed in August 2019. However, criticism is being leveled at the civilians in positions of authority, who nominally hold most of the power, for handing over some of their prerogatives to the military. Controversies have created disputes, threatening the viability of the Forces for Freedom of Change coalition that led the revolution. Despite the overwhelming support for Abdullah Hamdok’s government, its popularity is gradually declining. It has not addressed systemic issues with the desired rigor and speed, chief among them economic issues, crippling inflation, and the currency’s decline. The Forces of the Declaration for Freedom and Change, composed of political parties, professional unions, civil society actors, and the Sudanese Professionals Association, which has played a pioneering role in the popular movement that had overthrown Bashir, is the political force behind the transitional government. The coalition signed the “constitutional declaration” in August 2019 with the army officers who had sided with the revolution and formed the Transitional Military Council. It stipulated a partnership between the two parties for a transitional period of 39 months and set up a Sovereignty Council of 11 members, five military and five civilians, and one member appointed through a compromise. The constitutional declaration also gave Freedom and Change the power to form the government and choose 67 percent of the 300 members of the Transitional Legislative Council, which, a year after the agreement was signed, has not yet been formed. However, despite its nominal control over the civilian aspects of governance, parties within the ruling coalition regularly and openly decry the civilian government’s weakness and the military, led by the head of the Sovereignty Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his deputy, Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, undermining its authority. Sharp internal disputes over power and the legitimacy of the constitutional declaration amongst the coalition’s parties have also been expressed openly. Abdullah Rizk, a political analyst, explains that the coalition includes many political parties and blocs and that they have real objective differences of opinion that are not a result of negativity, while the bare minimum level of consensus needed exists. Rizk pointed out that the transitional authorities face many challenges that have led to modest improvements compared to the people’s aspirations. The transitional government and the political forces behind it are dealing with pressing challenges related to pensions and services, which induces a strong feeling of negligence. Sometimes, criticism from within the ruling parties themselves goes as far as describing their time in power as a failure.” Here, Rizk refers to calls made by the political forces headed by the National Umma Party for the establishment of a new alliance to run the transitional authority. In parallel, a group from the Professionals Association that signed a political declaration with the Sudan People’s Movement led by Abdel Aziz Al-Hilu, the nucleus of a new alliance, declare: The deliberative conference’s goal is to restore the coalition’s cohesion and reconsolidate it, put an end to the disputes within the coalition, propose solutions to the government’s slow performance and overcome the dispute over the IMF program’s dictates with regard to floating the national currency and lifting subsidies. Leader of the Forces of Change, Ahmed Hadrah, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the coalition formed a committee to prepare for its conference, planned for this August, to discuss the coalition’s experience, restructure it, expand participation and evaluate the transitional government’s performance. He says that the conference’s papers have been completed, and that the preparatory committee has extended an invitation to all the neighborhood resistance committees and the political forces that signed the Freedom and Change Declaration. Despite all of these difficulties and challenges, and though the Prime Minister acknowledges the challenges and obstacles facing his government’s ability to make progress and the hardships caused by poor living standards, he promises a forthcoming breakthrough. He also points to his government’s ability to restore Sudan’s place as a member of the international community, after having been isolated for 30 years, and moving forward with peace agreements with the armed movements as major achievements.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2464526/sudans-ruling-coalition-will-it-stay-united-or-disintegrate