Sudan Communist Party and SLM-AW sign agreement in Juba

The Communist Party of Sudan (CPoS) and the mainstream Sudan Liberation Movement under the leadership of Abdelwahid Nur (SLM-AW) have agreed to form ‘a joint front to confront the challenges facing the fate of the country and unify national positions’.

The Communist Party and the Darfur rebel movement signed a joint accord in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, yesterday, in which the two parties agreed “to set up joint front action in order to confront the “regional, racial, civil and military division” of the country.

In a statement yesterday, the two parties appealed to “all national forces to take strict and clear positions against this division”.

They aim “to reach a unified national political path, with the participation of broad layers of the Sudanese population” and confront those “attempting to hijack the Sudanese revolution”.

The CPoS and SLM-AW hope to convince “all political, revolutionary, civil society, and armed struggle forces, to join discussions that will pave the way for the establishment of a platform that only excludes the [dissolved] National Congress Party and its facades”.

They hold the warring Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) “fully responsible for all crimes and serious violations of human rights and international law,” and stressed that they will not side with either of them.

The statement underscored the importance of finding “a comprehensive, radical political solution to the Sudanese crisis, bypassing all approaches and methods that led to the war, in order to establish a state of equal citizenship”.

The agreement was signed by Saleh Mahmoud, member of the CPoS Central Committee and Abdallah Harran, vice president of the SLM-AW.

SLM-AW spokesperson Mohamed El Nayer told Radio Dabanga last week that his movement agreed to meet with former Sudanese PM Abdallah Hamdok to discuss cooperation with the Civil Democratic Forces alliance (Tagaddum), which is seeking “to build the broadest democratic civil front possible” to stop the war.

The CpoS earlier this month announced that it will definitely not join the Tagaddum alliance as its refuses to cooperate with those who support a “legitimisation of the presence of the military on the scene in the future” as it adheres to the decision of the party’s central committee to only deal with other political parties and civil society organisations, such as the grassroots resistance committees in the country – which have not been invited yet by Tagaddum.

In early January, a delegation of the alliance, headed by Hamdok, met with RSF Commander Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo in the Ethiopian capital. The meeting led to the signing of the Addis Ababa Declaration, in which RSF agreed “to immediately and unconditionally stop hostilities” in direct negotiations with the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), provided that Tagaddum agrees with the army commanders “to adhere to the same procedures”.

Radio Dabanga reported on Friday that Tagaddum is waiting for the time and place to meet with army leader Abdelfattah El Burhan to discuss a ceasefire, safe distribution of aid, and the possibility to agree on safe areas for the people in the country in case the war spreads to the rest of Sudan.

Last week, SLM leader Nur held meetings with Hemedti and with Kenyan President William Ruto in Nairobi. The meeting with Hemedti was “part of our efforts to open humanitarian corridors in areas controlled by SLM-AW,” spokesperson El Nayer said.

Ruto and Nur discussed the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) roadmap to stop the war in Sudan, “which El Nur supports”.