Sudan’s FFC Declined Indirect Request to Meet Hamdok

27 DECEMBER 2021

December 26, 2021 (KHARTOUM) – The Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) rejected a request, made indirectly, by Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok to hold a joint meeting, a leading member of the coalition told the Sudan Tribune on Sunday.

The FFC groups refused to endorse the framework deal that Hamdok concluded with the coup leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on 21 November and described him as a traitor.

Nonetheless, a delegation of the National Umma Party (NUP) including its acting leader Fadlallah Burma, his deputy Mariam al-Mahdi met Hamdok on December 25 but the two sides did not issue a joint statement and refused to speak about their discussion.

A member of the FFC Central Council Mutaz Salih told the Sudan Tribune on Sunday that Burma informed some members of the coalition leadership that Hamdok requested to meet them.

“The Forces for the Freedom and Change did not accept an informal request from Hamdok to hold a joint meeting,” he said.

He added that they have passed this stage of dialogue with Hamdok as they support now call to overthrow the coup leaders and to establish a civilian transitional government.

Hamdok seeks to bring together the political forces to agree on a political declaration enabling him to form a government of technocrats.

The Commander in Chief of the Sudan Armed Forces al-Burhan on October 25 dissolved the transitional government and state governments and froze some articles in the constitutional declarations related to the partnership between the FFC and the military component.

The FFC nowadays consult on a new declaration for a broad popular front to overthrow the coup, which includes political and civil forces, human rights and trade union bodies, in addition to the resistance committees the spearhead of protests against the coup.

For his part, the Chairman of the Executive Office of the Unionist Alliance Babikir Faisal who is a Member of the FFC Leadership Council dismissed reports that they had received an offer from the coup leader to re-establish the joint partnership in accordance with the Constitutional Document.

In statements to the Sudan Tribune on Sunday, he added they are now focusing on the reunification of the political forces in a broad framework to achieve the benchmarks of the democratic transition.

“The current crisis in the country eventually requires a political solution,” he stressed adding that the political forces must be ready for that.

In a related development, Omer al-Digair the leader of the Sudanese Congress Party on Sunday released a statement on his Facebook page criticizing Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok and the UNITMAS for their silence over the recent excessive use of violence against the protesters.

“It is unfortunate that despite the excessive use of force against the peaceful demonstrations on December 19 and 25, and despite many grave violations and methods of humiliation and intimidation practised against the protesters, no condemnation or comment was issued by the Prime Minister or his office,” he said.

“As for the UN mission (UNITAMS), it was contented with an advance warning (against violence), but it remains silent (after the brutal violence against protesters). They even did not “express concern” about violations related to the most important of its mandate, which is the protection of human rights,” he said.

(ST)