SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Independent -Sudan’s transition at crossroads as the two ruling partners lock horns for political gains

19/10/2021: Independent -Sudan’s transition at crossroads as the two ruling partners lock horns for political gains, by Ahmed Aboudouh

Ahmed Aboudouh’s feature piece on the crisis facing Sudan’s democratic transition provides quotes from political experts.

The International Crisis Group’s Jonas Horner said the military worries about democratic transition as it may be subject to justice for abuses committed, and may lose their dominant and privileged place in the Sudanese economy,”

Yezid Sayigh of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said: the military shifted to more assertive approach to dealing with civilian political parties after the latter proved disunited, although civilians’ “only possible hope” is “an unambiguous public stance from the US warning against any form of a military takeover and hinting at the possibility of Sudan losing access to the IMF and World Bank etc., could have a huge effect on the Sudanese military’s behaviour”.

For the civilian bloc, mobilisation of the street remains the best hope for resisting pressure for a greater military role, Horner said.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Reuters - Facebook shuts fake accounts in Sudan, as fight for public opinion rages online

19/10/2021: Reuters - Facebook shuts fake accounts in Sudan, as fight for public opinion rages online, by Nafisa Eltahir, Malaika Tapper and Khalid Abdelaziz

Reuters report that Facebook closed two large networks targeting Sudanese users linked to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and supporters of the former regime agitating for a military takeover. 

In both networks, posts mimicked news media but offered skewed coverage of political events. The Sudanese Information ministry said former regime loyalists were “working systematically to undermine the transition and tarnish the image of the government”.

Representatives of Valent Projects, a firm contracted by the ministry to find the networks, said the networks were “active as recently as this week, agitating for a military takeover [amid pro-military protests], and in the aftermath of the coup attempt,” as they try to give the impression of grassroots support for anti-civilian protests.  

With much of the Sudanese battle for public opinion occurring online, Reuters note that the 30% of Sudanese with internet access “depend heavily on social media for news”.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: al-Democrati – Dangers called Minnawi and Jibril!

19/10/2021: al-Democrati – Dangers called Minnawi and Jibril!, by Asmaa Jum'ah

Following the breakaway formation of the Forces of Freedom and Change National Accord faction (FFC-NA) led by Darfuri armed movement leaders Minni Minnawi of the Sudan Liberation Movement and Jibril Ibrahim of the Justice and Equality Movement, Asmaa Jum’ah, the editor-in-chief of al-Democrati, calls for the people of Darfur to not support them.

Dissecting the history of Minnawi and Ibrahim, Jum’ah suggests that Minnawi exploited the uprising opportunistically as a platform to support the military’s seizure of power in order to prolong his political relevance, whereas Ibrahim – an Islamist allied to the former regime until rebelling against it “because he was not given positions” – is allegedly trying to revive the Islamists’ dominance under his leadership.

Jum’ah concludes that Minnawi and Ibrahim’s current alliance with the same military they fought against and blamed for the marginalisation of Darfur suggests that they are untrustworthy and must be replaced with new leaders.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga - Sudan peace accord formalised in Constitutional Document

19/10/2020: Radio Dabanga - Sudan peace accord formalised in Constitutional Document

 Radio Dabanga report that the Sovereign Council and the Council of Ministers incorporated the Juba Peace Agreement into the 2019 Constitutional Document.

 This means that three seats - occupied by rebel movements - will be added to the Sovereign Council, now existing of 11 members (five military and six civilians).

 The agreement also stipulates the establishment of a ‘Partners Council’ for the three-year transitional period, consisting of the Forces for Freedom and Change, Sudan’s military forces and the rebel movements that signed the Juba Peace Agreement, to discuss major political issues.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - UN calls to press Darfur holdout group to join peace talks

19/10/19: Sudan Tribune - UN calls to press Darfur holdout group to join peace talks

 Sudan Tribune reports that the head of the UN peacekeeping department Jean Pierre Lacroix called on the UN Security Council to exert more effort to bring the Sudan Liberation Movement-North faction led by Abdelwahid Nur to the peace negotiating table with the Sudanese government.

 Lacroix told the UN Security Council that the Sudanese government regretted Abdelwahid Nur’s refusal to join the peace process despite the efforts exerted by Sudanese Prime Minister Abdulla Hamdok, who met him last September during a visit to Paris.

 Al-Nur, who does not recognize the civilian-led transitional government, says a referendum must be held on the legitimacy of the new regime before engaging in peace talks.

 Lacroix also told the UN that Abdelwahid Nur’s SLM-N faction continues to attack the Sudanese army, and there is infighting between factions amid attempts to negotiate a surrender with the authorities.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Hamdok requested aligning UNAMID withdrawal with Sudan’s peace process: UN

19/10/19: Sudan Tribune - Hamdok requested aligning UNAMID withdrawal with Sudan’s peace process: UN

 Sudan Tribune reports that the Sudanese government has requested that the UN-African Union (UNAMID) planned withdrawal from war-ravaged Darfur be aligned with the ongoing peace process.

 According to the UN’s leading peacekeeper Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Sudanese Prime Minister Hamdok made the request based on concerns expressed by Sudan’s armed groups during their consultations with the Government of Sudan.

UNAMID initially planned to withdraw its peacekeepers from Darfur by June 2020. However, the Sudanese Revolutionary Front have voiced their opposition to this, saying that militias continue to attack civilians.

 Lacroix said that the peacekeeping mission is planning to make two proposals to the UN Security Council in December 2019. The first would be to remove UNAMID peacekeepers from 13 locations to 5, mainly located in Central Jebel Marra where armed elements remain active.

The second would be to withdraw completely by June 2020, as previously planned.