Sudan Tagadom alliance seeks a unified vision about ‘stopping and ending the war’

The Civil Democratic Forces alliance (Tagadom), chaired by former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, launched a five-day leadership conference in Entebbe, Uganda, yesterday.

Spokesperson Bakri El Jak told Radio Dabanga that this is the first leadership meeting after the Tagadom founding conference that took place in May.

“This meeting will prioritise humanitarian issues and the protection of civilians, especially since these issues can no longer await negotiations for a ceasefire. What is needed is a search for urgent solutions,” he said, and noted that at least 11 million people have been displaced and more than half of Sudan’s population is threatened by hunger,” El Jak said.

“At the same time, it is necessary to also continue to focus on politics and develop a political vision – which we plan to do in a roundtable discussion,” he stated, and added that the Civil Democratic Forces includes 17 political and civil society groups. “Of the various Sudanese blocs working to stop the war, Tagadom is the largest one.”

The Civil Democratic Forces* was formed in October last year. The group consists of members of the Forces for Freedom and Change-Central Council (FFC-CC**), several civil society groups and former rebel movements.

Tagadom chair Abdalla Hamdok described the meeting in a press statement yesterday as pivotal. “The leadership body meetings provide an opportunity to discuss important issues, including the humanitarian crisis, addressing the protection of civilians, and delivering aid internally and in refugee areas.”

He said he hopes that the planned round table discussions will “bring viewpoints closer together, and lead to a unified vision”.

Hamdok further noted that stopping the war and ending the war are two separate processes. “Stopping the war requires ending hostilities and a ceasefire, while ending the war requires entering into a political process.”

The Tagadom leadership meetings will continue for five days. It is expected that they will conclude with recommendations related to the future of the alliance, a unified vision about the required political process, the protection of civilians, and the delivery of aid.

* The Civil Democratic Forces (Tagadom, meaning ‘progress’ in Arabic) alliance was formed in October last year. It chose Hamdok, prime minister during the transitional period following the ousting of President Omar Al Bashir in 2019, as chairperson. The group consists of the Sudanese Congress Party, the National Umma Party, the SPLM-Democratic Revolutionary Movement, and other members of the Forces for Freedom and Change-Central Council (FFC-CC).

Tagadom  developed a roadmap, containing a proposal for a comprehensive ceasefire with effective monitoring mechanisms and the development of a comprehensive political process leading to democratic governance, and called on Sudanese hold-out parties and groups to help and “build the broadest democratic civil front possible and to discuss ways to end the current war”.

In December, Hamdok invited the commanders of the warring Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for a meeting. SAF Commander-in-chief Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan did not comply, but Lt Gen Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo, commander of the RSF, reacted positively.

They met in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on January 1 this year. The meeting ended the next day with a declaration, signed by Hemedti and Hamdok, in which the RSF agrees “to immediately and unconditionally stop hostilities” in direct negotiations with SAF, provided that the army commanders agree to the same Tagadom procedures.

El Burhan ignored the Tagadom invitation – which unfortunately led to misinterpretations of the agreement with the RSF. Many, including SAF commanders, have since accused the alliance of siding with the paramilitary group.

In end March, the national public prosecution office, moved to Port Sudan, Red Sea state, after the outbreak of the war in April 2023, charged the heads of the 17 Tagadom member groups  with provoking war against the state, incitement, conspiracy, undermining the constitutional order, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

The Civil Democratic Forces alliance held its delayed founding conference in end May. The conference approved a political paper and revamped the organisational structure representing political parties, trade unions, resistance committees, civil society groups, and former rebel movements. Heated discussions were held over calls to cancel the Addis Ababa agreement between the RSF and Tagadom.

** The Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) has been prone to divisions since its formation in early January 2019. The National Umma Party (NUP), the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and the Socialist Arabic Ba’ath Party, which already witnessed internal splits during the reign of Al Bashir, fragmented further due to opposing views and standpoints on talks with the military. The Communist Party of Sudan withdrew from the FFC in the end of 2020. The mainstream Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party left the coalition two year later. The FFC-CC now consists of pro-democratic (split-off) political parties, relatively new groups such as the SPLM–Democratic Revolutionary Movement (DRM)​, and several rebel movement factions.