Sudan: Anti-war civil forces hold preparatory meeting in Addis Ababa
October 21, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – Preparatory meetings for the Civil Front to Stop the War in Sudan began on Saturday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, with wide participation from political forces, armed movements, and pro-democracy professional and union bodies.
The meetings come after more than six months of violent fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, which began in Khartoum and expanded to include large areas in Darfur and Kordofan, leaving thousands dead and wounded and displacing more than four million people internally and externally.
Adam Bilal, Vice President of the Justice and Equality Movement, led by Suleiman Sandal, told Sudan Tribune that the Addis Ababa Forum, which will be held from October 21 to 24, is a preliminary meeting to arrange the comprehensive meeting that will be determined by the Preparatory Committee.
He expected the participation of a significant number of sectors of Sudanese society, including Resistance Committees, political forces, civil society organizations, the Professionals Association, and independent figures.
“This preparatory representation does not have to be comprehensive for everyone, but representation includes the broadest range of sectors, with the next comprehensive meeting being the broadest and largest, which will ensure the participation of all sectors of Sudanese society keen to stop the war and restore democracy in Sudan,” he added.
He said that they did not invite political forces and armed movements calling for war because the primary goal of this bloc is to stop the war and restore the democratic path.
Abla Karar, a leading member of the Sudanese Congress Party, told Sudan Tribune that the most prominent participants in the meeting are the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC)’s groups and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front headed by Hadi Idris, the Justice and Equality Movement headed by Suleiman Sandal (JEM-Sandal), the Republican Party, and a number of political forces from eastern Sudan including the Coalition of Political and Civil Forces in Eastern Sudan. She further pointed to the participation of civil society groups such as peace initiatives that were formed in some states of Kordofan and Darfur, representatives of Resistance Committees and professional groups such as the Elected Journalists Syndicate, the Steering Committee of the Bar Association, the Teachers Committee, the Port Workers Union, University Professors Union, civil society groups including women’s organizations, in addition to a number of democratic figures.
Karar stressed that the most important issues up on the agenda of the meeting are setting a vision for ending the war and restoring democracy and designing the political process leading to ending the war and restoring democracy, in addition to discussing how to build a discourse anti-war and supportive of civil-democratic transformation.
She indicated that the meeting will also discuss humanitarian issues, mechanisms for establishing the General Conference of the Civil Front, and mechanisms for joint coordination work between the components of the preparatory meeting until the General Conference is held.
Resistance Committees adopt various positions
The positions of the neighbourhood Resistance Committees vary regarding participation in the Addis Ababa meeting.
Several groups, such as the Resistance Committees of the Um Badda suburb, west of Omdurman, have announced their participation. However, the East Nile committees declined the invitation, according to a source who spoke to Sudan Tribune. The Omdurman and Khartoum Bahri committees have not confirmed their participation.
A leader in the “Angry Without Borders” group, which opposes the October 25, 2021 coup, told Sudan Tribune that they will not participate in the Addis Ababa conference despite receiving an official invitation. He said that they will not participate in any meetings that they believe are working to “Revive the Janjaweed militias and chart a future role for them, despite the major crimes and violations they have committed against civilians in Khartoum, Darfur, and Kordofan”.
Boycott and Reservations
The Arab Socialist Baath Party Spokesperson Adel Khalaf Allah said that they will not participate in the Addis Ababa meeting despite their solidarity with all anti-war efforts that want to complete democratic change. He stressed that since the beginning of the war, they have called for the establishment of alliances against the war away from the interference of external powers. He stressed that the October 21 meeting comes within “the framework of work of international facilitators and the same approach of guardianship and international pressure.”
Meanwhile, the Political Secretary of the Popular Congress Party (PCP), Kamal Omar, said that their party would not participate in the preparatory meeting in Addis Ababa. However, he underscored the existence of political coordination between them and these civilian forces to form a largest front to combat the ongoing war between the army and the Rapid Support forces. He pointed out that the PCP is satisfied with all the steps taken by the FFC who are their partners in the Political Framework Agreement. He noted that their party is part of the Civil Front and is constantly being informed of all the steps that have been taken. He further revealed that they presented their vision to their partner in previous meetings but abstained from indicating the cause of their abstention.
Minnawi Criticizes
Commenting on the Addis Ababa meetings, the head of the Sudan Liberation Movement, Minni Arko Minnawi, told Sudan Tribune that any efforts to achieve national cohesion are important, especially if they are on the right track. However, he said that he has no information about the Addis Ababa meeting except that it is funded externally.
He added that the Addis Ababa meeting is no different from the consultations that are taking place in Cairo and Juba, but that it may have been intended to revitalize the membership of the Forces for Freedom and Change (Central Council) and reunite them after they were divided by the war.
Minanwi, who also heads the political committee in the Democratic Bloc coalition, said that Sudan does not need an additional demonstration in hotels and halls, but rather it needs to unify the national ranks, accept others, and avoid the mistakes of the past that caused the current war.
Previous attempts to bring together the FFC Central Council with the Democratic Bloc have failed after the latter’s insistence to establish a mechanism that prevents the former dominating the decision-making in any potential alliance. The Central Council also has expressed concern about certain members within the opposing coalition.
(ST)