FFC Forces Say Defeating Sudan’s Coup Requires Unity, Transparency

FFC leaders pose after a reunification meeting on 24 June 2021 (ST photo)

October 17, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – The Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) said that defeating the coup would not be achieved without mass resistance action side by side with the political negotiations.

The FFC recently held a series of meetings with the military component to discuss ways to restore civilian government based on a draft transitional constitution calling to exclude the military from the future authority.

The military leadership reportedly accepted the constitutional proposals drafted by the Sudanese Bar Association and the principal of the civilian transitional government.

However, the military said that a supreme council of the armed forces should be established, triggering doubts within the FFC about al-Burhan’s sincerity to hand over power to a civilian government.

On Sunday, the pro-democracy coalition leaders held a meeting to discuss the latest developments in the political process.

While some were enthusiastic about the pledges made by the leader of the military component, others cautioned against the position of the embattled head of the Sovereign Council.

The reluctant FFC leaders stressed that al-Burhan accepted the draft transitional constitution under international pressure and because his deputy rejects any alliance with the Sudanese Islamists.

Sources close to the meeting told Sudan Tribune that the coalition leaders agreed on the need to preserve the unity of the FCC forces and transparency with the Sudanese street.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the FFC stressed that its mechanisms to end the coup are “Mass peaceful resistance including demonstrations, strikes; disobedience, besides regional and international solidarity along with a political solution that achieves the goals of the revolution”.

The meeting further endorsed a position paper for a political settlement, stressing they would brief the Sudanese on it, as part of the transparency approach.

The coalition also condemned the unexpected “political” detention arrest of Wagdi Salih a member of the FFC leadership and the suspended Empowerment Removal Committee.

SPLM-N Revolutionary Current

The SPLM-N Revolutionary Democratic Current headed by Yasir Arman stated on Sunday that they are not a party to any political settlement without the revolutionary forces.

“We are not a party to any settlement away from the masses and the forces of the revolution. We work to strengthen the unity of the Forces for Freedom and Change and build a civil front to complete the tasks of the December revolution,” said Buthaina Dinar the SPLM-N deputy chairman; in a statement released on Sunday.

Dinar further called on the QUAD countries, Britain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the U.S., and the tripartite facilitation mechanism to carefully distinguish between “pro-coup forces and revolutionary forces.”

The statement was alluding to the Democratic Unionist Party and the Popular Congress Party. The two parties allied with the former regime, but the latter voiced opposition to the October 25 coup.

She pointed out that any political process led by supporters of the coup would lose its credibility, and the broad forces of the revolution would reject it.

“The accurate Identification of the parties is vital for the future of the political process and the transition,” she further stressed

(ST)