A Pro-coup Sudanese former rebel movements and political parties announced the formation of a new political alliance called the Forces for Freedom and Change-Democratic Block (FFC-DB). The group calls itself the “Forces for Freedom and Change-Democratic Bloc, a name similar to the Forces for Freedom and Change, which led demonstrations that helped oust former president Omar al-Bashir in 2019 and more recently has led protests against military rule.
Thus, the pro-coup group wants to replace the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) group, which has opposed military rule. The new alliance favors a civilian-led transitional government but opposes renegotiation of the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement. That agreement aims to bring Sudanese armed groups that signed it into the transitional government. But critics note some groups were left out of the deal, which does not require disarming until after elections.
The political grouping includes several of Sudan’s pro-military groups, including Freedom and Change – National Consensus, the Democratic Unionist Party, and the Beja High Council.
Among the coalition’s proposals, too, is to replace the name Forces for Freedom and Change in the Constitutional Document with “civil forces, armed struggle movements, and resistance committees” to move beyond the power of the FFC as the main civilian political actor in government.
The new bloc has real political weight in the marginalized areas in Sudan and the Forces of Freedom and Change, the central council, they failed to represent the marginalized areas properly.
The launch of the agreement comes as the Trilateral Mechanism recently intensified efforts to forge the outlines of a political deal between political groups – the FFC mainstream – and the military component based on a draft transitional constitution proposed by the Sudanese Bar Association.
In a press conference in Khartoum, speakers stressed that the new alliance “reflects political, cultural, social, and religious diversity”. The group includes the National Accord Forces (NAF), the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and the Sudanese Ba’ath Party, amongst others.
The NAF, themselves a split-off faction of the Forces for Freedom and Change also referred to as the FFC-National Accord, are an alliance of former rebel movements including the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) led by Jibril Ibrahim, currently Minister of Finance, a Sudan Liberation Movement spit-off faction headed by Minni Minawi, now Governor of the Darfur Region, and the Democratic Justice Alliance headed by Mubarak Ardol, director of the Mineral Resources Company and former member of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N). The NAF announced their political vision in August and proposed that the role of the military in the government should be limited to security and defence councils, chaired by a civilian head of state or the prime minister.
These “civil forces, armed struggle movements, and resistance committees” must appoint the prime minister, the sovereign authority, and parliament.
The DUP faction chaired by Jaafar El Mirghani and the Sudanese Ba’ath Party led by Mohamed Wadaa are among the group of smaller political parties joining the alliance.
Ardol warned of what he described as “attempts of some political forces to regain control of the country” whilst El Mirghani called for “more national consensus among the Sudanese” and warned against the continuation of armed militias.
The new coalition rejects the adoption of a new constitutional text for the transition in Sudan. Instead, it calls to mend the current constitutional document of 2019.
It proposes to amend a number of clauses concerning the establishment of a civilian sovereign authority including a civilian Council of Ministers, a Legislative Council, and a Security and Defence Council headed by the Prime Minister.
Among the coalition’s proposals, too, is to replace the name Forces for Freedom and Change in the Constitutional Document with “civil forces, armed struggle movements, and resistance committees” to move beyond the power of the FFC as the main civilian political actor in government.
These “civil forces, armed struggle movements, and resistance committees” must appoint the prime minister, the sovereign authority, and parliament.
Minister of Finance and JEM leader Jibril Ibrahim stressed the importance of forming a civilian government in Sudan as soon as possible to end “the vacuum that the country has experienced during a whole year since the military coup on October 25, 2021”.
Ibrahim also said that the proposals to amend the 2019 Constitutional Document are not final and subject to discussion with other political forces.
The minister urged those protesting against the military coup to adhere to peace and not resort to violence.
