KHARTOUM – The Taqaddum (Progress) coalition, a key alliance of civilian democratic forces in Sudan, announced on Monday a formal separation between factions advocating for and opposing the establishment of a parallel government. The split follows the insistence of Taqaddum’s Deputy Chairman, al-Hadi Idris, on forming a civilian government to challenge the legitimacy of the existing administration, which is based in Port Sudan and was appointed by the army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
In a statement, Taqaddum said its leadership body, headed by former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, convened to discuss the issue of legitimacy and the possibility of forming a government as a way to address this.
The statement said that the meeting revealed “two divergent positions on the issue of the government, and therefore the most appropriate option is to separate those holding the two positions, so that each can work under a separate political and organizational platform with two new and different names.”
Taqaddum added that “under this decision, each party will, from this date, act as it deems appropriate and in accordance with its vision of the war and ways to stop it, achieve comprehensive and lasting peace, establish sustainable democratic civilian rule, and confront the plans of the former regime, its dissolved party, and its front organisations.”
According to the statement, each group will announce its political and organizational arrangements and the new name under which it will operate separately.
19 Taqaddum entities against formation of parallel government in Sudan
Sources told DNE Africa that 19 political and civil entities within Taqaddum objected to the direction advocating for the formation of a government. These include the National Umma Party, the Sudanese National Alliance, the Federal Gathering, the National Ba’ath Party, the Sudanese Congress Party, the Sudanese National Party, and the United National Federalist. Other objecting factions include the Centre Current for Change, the Communication Party, the Nasserist Party, the Haqq Movement, the National Federalist, resistance committees, professional bodies and trade unions, civil society groups, special interest groups, Hamdok’s faction, the Democratic Revolutionary Current, and the United People’s Front.
Those supporting the formation of a parallel government within Taqaddum include former members of the Sovereignty Council: al-Hadi Idris, al-Tahir Hajar, and Mohamed Hassan al-Taayshi, as well as Suleiman Sandal, the head of a splinter faction of the Justice and Equality Movement.
Taqaddum is one of the largest civilian political alliances in Sudan and consists of political parties, armed movements that signed the Juba Peace Agreement in 2020, trade unions, and independent figures. Signs of the dispute within Taqaddum emerged in recent weeks, when the civil alliance announced on 31 January the formation of a committee to “disentangle” the two sides involved in an escalating conflict over the formation of a “parallel government” in areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Sudan Government Outlines Post-Conflict Roadmap
In related news, the Sudanese government on Sunday announced a roadmap for the post-conflict period. This includes forming a government of technocrats, selecting a civilian prime minister, and launching a national dialogue. The announcement comes as the Sudanese army claims gains in areas formerly controlled by the RSF.
A statement from the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “after the successes achieved by the armed forces and joint and support forces, supported by all sections of the Sudanese people, and tightening the noose on the rebels in various theatres, the state leadership, after extensive consultations with national and community forces, presented a roadmap for preparing for the post-war phase and resuming the comprehensive political process that will culminate in holding free and fair general elections.”
The key points of the roadmap announced by the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs include:
- Launching a comprehensive national dialogue for all political and community forces, welcoming all who take a national position, withdraw their support from the aggressors, and side with the national interest.
- Forming a government of independent national technocrats to resume the tasks of the transitional period and help the state overcome the consequences of the war.
- Making the necessary amendments to the constitutional document, which will be approved by national and community forces, and then selecting a civilian prime minister to manage the executive branch of the state without interference.
- Affirming freedom of opinion and political action without undermining the nation or compromising national constants, and not depriving any citizen of their right to obtain a passport.
- Stipulating the laying down of arms and the evacuation of civilian property for any talks with the rebellion (RSF), and not accepting the call for a ceasefire unless the siege of al-Fasher is lifted, to be followed by withdrawal from Khartoum, West Kordofan, and the Darfur states.
