Sudanese civil forces agree to form leadership body headed by Hamdok
October 26, 2023 (ADDIS ABABA) – The Preparatory Committee for the Meeting to Unite Civil Forces to End the War has agreed to form a leadership body headed by former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok to oversee the preparations for a founding conference scheduled to take place in eight weeks.
The Sudanese political and civil forces, which met in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, for three days from October 23 to 26, concluded their work by agreeing on an organizational structure, including a leadership body for the “Coordination of Civil Democratic Forces” (CCDF) consisting of 60 representatives of political and civil forces, in addition to a 30-member executive office to prepare for the founding meeting of the coordination.
The gathering also resolved to allocate 70% of the leadership body to non-partisan forces, encompassing Resistance Committees, unions, civil society organizations, new initiatives, and independent figures. In contrast, political parties, alliances, and armed factions were granted 30%.
About 100 people, representing political, civil, union and armed groups, resistance committees as well as local tribal and religious leaders, met in Addis Ababa to unite pro-democratic forces. After extensive discussions that covered the political, economic, humanitarian, and media aspects, the meeting successfully developed drafts of working papers to be presented to the Founding Conference. The meeting also decided to organize specialized workshops in several other fields.
Abdalla Hamdok was designated as the head of the preparatory leadership body of the Civil Front for Democracy, responsible for oversight, supervision, and the preparation of the founding conference.
Hamdok’s endorsement
In a separate press statement, Hamdok voiced his support for the recommendations of the preparatory meeting and its final statement. He also expressed his readiness to head the preparatory leadership body leading up to the founding conference.
“The preparatory meeting was a first step and the beginning of a process that we hope will coordinate and unify the democratic civil position against the war,” he said. Furthermore, he called on the democratic civil forces seeking to stop the war to unite efforts to establish a broad civil unity to stop the war, address its urgent humanitarian effects, and achieve comprehensive peace.
Troika Applauds
The Troika countries (Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States) hailed the meeting of Sudanese civilian groups saying it is an important step towards the formation of an inclusive and representative pro-democracy civilian front.
“This gathering speaks to the Sudanese people’s commitment to a democratic future. We welcome the fact that, in the midst of an active conflict, a wide array of Sudanese civilian actors from both inside and outside Sudan (…) were able to come together for this important initial meeting,” they said in a statement.
“We are encouraged that the meeting led to a collective commitment to convene a larger gathering with more diverse representation from Sudan in the coming months.”
(ST)