FFC: Talks over lifting Sudan AU suspension ‘not good’ 

In the run-up to the 36th ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly from February 15 to 19, a delegation from the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs is holding talks in Addis Ababa over lifting the suspension of Sudan’s membership. 

Chairman of the AU Commission Moussa Faki will visit Khartoum next week, almost four years after the AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) decided to suspend the participation of Sudan in all AU activities until the effective establishment of a civilian-led government. 

Ammar Hamouda, leading member of the Unionist Association and foreign relations spokesperson for the mainstream Forces for Freedom and Change, the FFC-Central Council, described the talks as “not good,” especially “in light of the faltering implementation of the current political process.” 

Hamouda considers the steps “a pre-emptive attempt to reap the fruits of the Framework Agreement before it has matured. Two months have passed since the signing of the agreement and the parties have not yet reached the end of the political process.” 

He explained that “there are issues that must be discussed before a civilian-led government is formed and the democratic path is restored. This will allow Sudan to restore its regional and international relationships.” 

Lawyer El Moez Hazrat commented that the AU does not have the right to lift the suspension of Sudan’s membership except at the request of a civilian-led government. “The coup is still ongoing. The situation has not changed,” he said. 

“If the AU or AUPSC agree to lift the suspension of Sudan’s membership now, they will be making a big mistake. It will only open the door to new military coups,” he explained. 

According to journalist and political analyst Mohamed El Mabrouk, the AU wants to restore Sudan’s membership because of the Western agenda in Africa. 

He told Radio Dabanga that the AU supports the restoration of civilian rule as laid out in the Framework Agreement. 

“The AU threw carrots to the military in order to entice them to form a civilian government, especially since Sudan is currently chairing the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Eastern Africa, which makes them hasten to lift the freeze and return it to the AU system.” 

In an initial reaction on April 15, 2019, the AUPSC denounced the coup d’état and gave the military junta 15 days to relinquish power to a civilian interim government, on pain of possible suspension of Sudan’s AU membership. A meeting of AU leaders in Cairo on April 23 recommended allowing the junta three months to relinquish power to civilian authority, however at a subsequent meeting in Tunis on May 1, the AUPSC decided on “a final extension of 60 days” to June 6, 2019. 

Sudan’s suspension was briefly lifted in 2021, pending the installation of a civilian-led government. The country’s membership was revoked again one month later on October 25. The AU branded the “seizure of power” by the military “unconstitutional.”