II. SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Tahir Institute for Middle East Policy - Including the Sudanese Street in Political Processes

20/12/2021: Tahir Institute for Middle East Policy - Including the Sudanese Street in Political Processes, by Kholood Khair

Insight Strategy Partners managing director Kholood Khair calls for incorporating mass mobilisation and consensus-building on the street into formal political processes through closer engagement with the resistance committees (RCs)

Although the RCs anti-compromising approach frustrates “international stakeholders wedded to conventional mediating methods”, Khair notes that previous compromises led to deeper crisis and instability, before calling for amorphous street positions and solutions from revolutionaries to be considered.

With the RCs announcing they will fill the vacuum left by the ousted FFC parties by providing a political roadmap, Khair adds that they need a mediation and negotiation platform that recognises their broad representation of the popular will, does not prioritise speed over meaningful inclusion and process, facilitates consensus-driven politics, coalition-building and the development of solutions.  

Khair concludes that polling, media engagement, and focus groups on key issues will all add RC legitimacy to “an otherwise elite [political process]”.

I. SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Tahir Institute for Middle East Policy - Including the Sudanese Street in Political Processes

20/12/2021: Tahir Institute for Middle East Policy - Including the Sudanese Street in Political Processes, by Kholood Khair

Insight Strategy Partners managing director Kholood Khair analyses the resistance committees (RCs) – “the mobilising engine of the resistance movement”.

Khair argues that the RCs are “the most effective counterweight to the regime, citing their rotating leadership which evades crackdowns, organisational capabilities despite internet blackouts, and stances that unite the broadest constituents, making the RCs “more resilient to the fracturing that is endemic in Sudanese political movements,” including the ousted FFC coalition.

Khair notes that the broad and unaffiliated nature of the RCs made organising difficult, but the lack of a dominating ideological or partisan outlook makes their model a “bulwark against hierarchies, co-optation, and internal hegemonies”.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AFP - US removes Sudan from religious freedom blacklist

20/12/2019: AFP - US removes Sudan from religious freedom blacklist

AFP reports that the US lifted “fast-changing” Sudan from a blacklist for religious freedom violations.

Sudan was the only nation removed from the US State Department's annual list of "countries of particular concern," which are subject to sanctions if they do not better protect religious liberty.

Nonetheless, Sudan remains on the US watch-list of countries that violate religious liberties, and it must improve its record to avoid re-designation.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - SPLM-N Agar make proposals for peace agreement in Sudan’s Two Areas

20/12/2019: Sudan Tribune - SPLM-N Agar make proposals for peace agreement in Sudan’s Two Areas

Sudan Tribune reports that the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (Malik Agar faction) handed over its positions for a framework peace agreement in the Two Areas (the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states), stressing that its vision is based on the unity of Sudan.

SPLM-N Agar chief negotiation Yassir Arman called for autonomy in the Two Areas, the building of a new state, and an end to injustice and discrimination.

The SPLM-N Agar is holding separate talks on the Two Areas with the transitional government, as the Abdel Aziz al-Hilu SPLM-N faction refuses to coordinate with the peace negotiations, due to their demands for self-determination for the Two Areas unless secularism is adopted across Sudan.

The SPLM-N Agar intends to leave the matter to a constitutional conference, but expressed willingness to mediate with the SPLM-N al-Hilu faction.