Sudan’s FFC Forces Sharply Criticize Hamdok

30 NOVEMBER 2021

November 29, 2021 (KHARTOUM) – Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok has been sharply criticised by the groups of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) on Monday as they questioned his legitimacy and accused him of seeking to divide them.

Hamdok struck a political deal with the coup leaders on November 21, reinstating him as prime minister and mandating him with the formation of an inclusive cabinet of technocrats without requiring the approval of his former political majority.

In a press conference held days after his release and 24 hours before demonstrations against the coup of October 25, the leader of the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP) Omer al-Diguair rejected the political agreement struck between Abdallah Hamdok and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan saying it was “not acceptable politically, and not even morally”.

“What gives the Prime Minister the right – and he is the one who had been picked by the FFC- to accept their removal and replace them?”

“The signing (of the political agreement) was nothing but an attempt to legitimize the coup,” stressed al-Diguair.

These statements of the SCoP leader actually reflect a shared view among the FFC leaders about the deal which according to the political coalition gave the military a political basis to legalize their coup.

They point that his deal authorizes amending the constitutional declaration governing the transitional so that the coup leaders can do all that the FFC had refused to them during the past two years.

Ibrahim al-Amin a leading member of the National Umma Party (NUP) who was critical for the FFC structures told Aljazeera TV that Hamdok gave his powers to the military during the first two years of the transition and now with this deal he allows them to control his action.

“Hamdok is just a secretary for the Chairman of the Sovereign Council,” he stressed.

After his release, the prime minister is consulting with political and civil society groups to create political grounds for himself. Also on November 25, he joined a protest against the military leaders in Khartoum to show his commitment to the Sudanese street.

In a statement published on Monday, Hamdok pinpointed that the deal he signed with al-Burhan provides to establish a political pact to be endorsed by all the political forces.

“This political pact is the one that defines all roles and forms the legislative council,” he said.

He added that would allow taking advantage of the lessons learnt during the two past years.

He further called to be open-minded and to move forward instead of sticking to “phrases and texts”, as he said.

NUP slams Hamdok

In a separate development, the National Umma Party (NUP), which was seen as one of the potential backers of the political agreement, issued a strongly worded statement against Hamdok, accusing him of seeking to split the party.

The NUP General-Secretariat disclosed that the Prime Minister met with some of its local leaders from some states and accused him of seeking to divide the party’s ranks.

“We will not accept the creation of a domesticated (political) incubator that will return the wheel of history to the era of the former regime,” stressed the statement before calling on the party members to take to the street to reject the coup and restore the democratic civil rule.

(ST)