Committee works to ‘end political stalemate’ in Sudan

A committee made up of several university directors is working on integrating eight proposals presented by a wide selection of parties to come up with a unified, comprehensive initiative for a solution that will end the political stalemate following the October 25 military coup.

The aim of the initiative is to end the stalemate, restore the civil democratic path, and open the way for naming a prime minister based on a programme of consultations and an agreed political declaration.

The proposals came from the National Umma Party (NUP), the University Directors Initiative, University of Khartoum lecturers, national experts, the Forces for Freedom and Change-Central Council, the Forces for Freedom and Change-National Charter, and the joint Resistance Committees Coordination.

Dr Mohamed El Mahdi Hasan, head of the NUP’s Political Bureau told Radio Dabanga that the committee of university directors was formed in order to unify the visions of all the different parties in one document.

By collecting the different visions in proposals, the committee can help to bring together the parties’ views and identify their differences. These can then be presented to the parties for dialogue and negotiation over points of contention to reach a common formula.

One of the contentious issues is the potential place of partnership with the military.

He explained that in the event of a consensus, there will be a political declaration in which all issues will be determined, and then people will go to choose an agreed prime minister.

He expected to reach this declaration soon and said that what happens next week will be decisive.

Political situation

Since the coup d'état in Sudan, the political situation has been tense. During the coup, Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok was arrested and removed from his position, to be reinstated weeks later after the signing of a controversial political agreement with coup leader and Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) commander Abdelfattah El Burhan. Mass protests took place after the coup and continued after the signing of the controversial agreement. Many protesters have been killed, injured, or detained by security forces during these protests and amidst the relentless civil unrest and the killing of protesters by national forces, PM Hamdok resigned. 

Before PM Hamdok resigned, the US Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the Sudanese leaders to put their differences aside, to reach consensus and ensure the continuation of civilian rule. They also added in their statement that “Washington continues to stand by the Sudanese people and calls for an end to violence against demonstrators”.