Tagadom alliance ‘rejects parties seeking to form exile or parallel Sudan govt’

Sudan’s Civil Democratic Forces alliance Tagadom (Progress)* officially announced its disengagement from all parties seeking to form an exile or parallel government of Sudan, saying in a statement this afternoon that the alliance’s official position has not changed. A subsequent release on behalf of Tagadom vice-chair El Hadi Idris, who is refered to but not named, refutes the original as ‘unauthorised’.

In the original statement at 15:33 today, Tagadom spokesman Bakri El Jack says: “The official position of the coordination of Civil Democratic Forces alliance Tagadom was and still is that the coordination does not seek to form an exile government or parallel government.”

Today’s statement does not mention, but refers to Tagadom vice-chair El Hadi Idris, and a number of leaders of the Tagadom coordination, who have put forward a proposal to form a government parallel to the government in Port Sudan. A subsequent statement at 17:41 on behalf of Idris, alleges that “the statement circulated under the name of the spokesman does not reflect the official position of the coordination of civil democratic forces (Progress). This statement has not been agreed upon by any of the authorized coordinating bodies, nor has it been agreed within known regulatory frameworks.”

Tagadom spokesman Bakri El Jack: “At a meeting of the Board of Directors of Tagadom, which concluded on December 6, 2024, a proposed government formation was proposed by a group within the Board, and no agreement was made on the proposal within it,” today’s statement says. “According to it, the meeting decided to refer the issue of the dispute of legitimacy and other issues to the political mechanism, which held several meetings and issued recommendations that were withdrawn to the General Secretariat and the Coordination Board.

“The political mechanism, at its last meeting, agreed to disconnect entities and individuals insisting on proceeding with forming a government, and between entities and individuals holding on not forming any government individually or with any of the fighting parties.”

El Jack says that a committee has been formed to reach a formula of disconnecting with the majority agreed between the two parties, each to work politically and organisationally independent from the other, with full appreciation of the different options built on terms of understanding for each party. Unless the reality of the situation says that these options cannot coexist within one alliance that refused war and is not biased to either of its parties.

“We are feeling the effect of the war pushing everyone towards polarisation and division, the coordination of democratic forces will remain impartial to any side of the war, and the legitimacy of the authority of the matter in Port Sudan or any other authority. We reject war and violence as a means of managing the political conflict in the country, and we will work to build a civil front that is rejecting war and believing in the unity of the country. We will also work to contribute to ending the war through mass and diplomatic work, as well as work to end the war through inclusive dialogue for all active forces, based on an integrated transitional justice and justice project, and a comprehensive vision for social recovery to soften the social fabric and tackle the remnants of the social and political war of division and polarisation,” the Tagadom spokesman’s statement concludes.

Tagadom Vice-chair refutes statement

“We would like to emphasise, in light of recent statements, that the statement circulated under the name of the spokesman does not reflect the official position of the coordination of the Civil Democratic Forces alliance ‘Tagadom’. This statement has not been agreed upon by any of the authorised coordinating bodies, nor has it been agreed within known regulatory frameworks,” the later statement on behalf of Tagadom vice-chair El Hadi Idris says.

“We also emphasise that the Tagadom coordination has not yet taken any decision on the issue of forming the government, and that this issue is still being discussed between all parties. Any expedited statements released outside the organisational context are irresponsible attempts to impose certain agendas, and do not represent the collective will of the Alliance.”

Idris suggests that “this hurried statement is an attempt to create a division within the coordination, which we strongly reject. The Tagadom alliance is founded on the basis of political compatibility between its institutions, and they alone have the right to report its fate. No single party can decide the fate of coordination or make decisions without the consent of all.”

“We refuse any attempts to impose a reality without going back to all partners, and we will face it firmly and responsibly,” the statement on behalf of Tagadom vice-chair El Hadi Idris concludes.

UPDATE: This article was updated at 18:28 to reflect the new statement on behalf of Tagadom vice-chair El Hadi Idris

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* The Civil Democratic Forces ‘Tagadom’ (meaning ‘progress’ in Arabic) alliance was formed in October 2023. It chose Abdallah Hamdok, who served as Sudan’s 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.