The Gap is Widening
Omer B. Abu Haraz
The Sudanese Professional Association (SPA) is the alliance of the legal Professional Trade Union before the coup of the Islamic Movement in June 1989. At the onset of the success of the coup, all (SPA)trade unions were dissolved. The SPA became legally dormant but clandestinely active. They led the uprising of September 2013 when millions took to the streets of Khartoum posing a real threat to the Islamic iron-grip rule.
It was ruthlessly quelled by the use of excessive force which left more than 200 dead and thousands injured. The SPA did not give up or backed down. The struggle for freedom continued till it culminated yo widespread peaceful demonstrations in almost all parts of the country. The mobilization of millions of protesters was crowned by the historic sit-in around the army H.Q. The uprising inside Sudan was bolstered by huge demonstrations of Sudanese citizens in America and Europe.
This drew the attention of the international community NGOs and governments. Both admired the slogans of the revolution –Freedom, Peace, and Justice, From that time the international community – governments and NGOs – openly and unequivocally declared their full support to the revolution. All this pressure from all directions inside and outside Sudan forced the High-Security Committee of the ousted regime (HSC), the HSC is the top brass of the army which allegiance to President Al-Bashir was undoubtedly, to align with the revolutionaries by seizing power after apprehending the president and his top aides on April 11, 2019.
A fragile partnership between military and civilians was established to govern a 3-year transitional period. The Military partner with its embedded allegiance to president Al Bashir managed to drive the wedge between the civilian partner, Force of Freedom and Change (FFC) by holding meetings with selected parties of FFC circumventing the Communist Party. This was the first crack in FFC which grew to a wide gap that led the Communist Party to suspend its membership in the FFC and finally withdrew from the FFC. It is a fact the Communist Party played a pivotal role in the success of the revolution by its strong presence in the SPA,
The biggest wedge drew between the two partners was the ruthless and inhumane dispersal of the sit-in revolutionaries which claimed the lives of innocent peaceful youths.
Some of the FFC parties were fully aware and informed by the ugly dispersal plot. This led to a rift between the FFC components.
Consequently, the rift turned from being between military and civilians to between two blocs – one is adamantly believing in transition to the full democratic civilian rule of the revolution members only with the deprivation of the National Congress Party (NCP) members who staged the Islamic coup of June 1989 together with all other powers, groups or individuals who worked in the 30-years governance of the ousted regime, this group bloc includes the Communist Party, the Alliance of Unionists, some of the members of the Sudanese Congress Party, some of Umma Party, Baath Party and SPLM-N (the Blue Nile and South Kordofan), Agarin Blue Nile and SLM of Abdulwahid in Darfur.
Medium and low-rank officers in the army are expected to be in this bloc.
The other bloc led by the military component together with the armed struggle movements of Darfur, popular Congress Party, which was [art and parcel of the NCP in the first 10 years of the ousted Salvation regime), some of the Umma Party, all Darfur civilian leaders of groups who assumed high posts in the ousted regime, plus some tribal leaders in the East. Also signatories of the three tracks of the Juba Peace Agreement (East, North, and Middle) are in the bloc.
The gap is widened by creating a new FFC announced on Saturday, October 2 which is the second bloc and fully supported by the Military in its tactics of a soft landing, which in essence call for the inclusion of all groups or parties regardless of their affiliation or working in the ousted regime.
The first bloc is fully supported by the international community especially America and Europe.
The recent visit of the President of the World Bank to Khartoum from which he delivered his annual global speech and his strong pledges to support the ailing economy of Sudan after admitting that the civilian government of Hamdok is on the right track together with the shuttle visits of American top officials send strong messages to the second bloc to refrain from any acts that jeopardize the steps of transition to civilian rule.
