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Perspectives

Theodore Murphy From left, Sudan’s Sovereign Council Chairman Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, South Sudanese
Director, Africa programme President Salva Kiir and Chadian President Idriss Deby attend the signing of peace deal
between the Sudanese government and Sudanese armed groups to end Sudan’s civil conflicts in
Juba, capital of South Sudan, on Saturday. DENIS ELAMU/XINHUA
Sudan peace agreement: formal structure for themselves, and

rejected affiliating to political parties.
What it really means for They believe such a structure would
make them vulnerable to hijacking
from within; and they distrust the
the country’s transition extant political parties, believing that
the Revolution’s demands transcend
party politics. The closest thing the
Base has to an affiliation is with the
prime minister. A recent misstep by
udan’s transitional government their hopes on the civilians gaining the prime minister imperiled the
Ssigned a peace agreement with key the upper hand, seeing in them the “genuineness” that endears him to the
rebel groups in late August. This was promise of completing the peaceful street
a significant step towards resolving transition to a new, liberal, Sudan that The “Party” element is an amalgamation
deep-rooted conflicts from the time the protests had started to usher in. of parties, with a sprinkling of civil
of former dictator Omar al-Bashir. But that vision is now under threat society actors, grouped under the
But the real potential of the peace from an unexpected quarter – and not umbrella of the Forces for Freedom
agreement lies not, in fact, in bringing from a revanchist military. Instead, and Change (FFC). The FFC emerged
an end to Sudan’s long-running civil the threat comes from strains within along with the Revolution, but the
wars – but in the chance to put Sudan’s the civilian camp itself, especially core was not new: traditional leftist
transition back on stable footing. between the protestors and Hamdouk. and Arab nationalist political parties,
Dramatic economic decline fuelled To understand this, the civilian camp veterans of Sudanese politics. When
demonstrations that pushed Bashir needs unpacking. Roughly it can Bashir fell, the FFC took on the role of
and his National Congress Party from be divided into “Base”, “Party”, and representing the Revolution including
power in 2019 after 25 years in control “Prime Minister”. in negotiating the transition with the
of Sudan. At that moment, a fleeting The “Base” is the protest movement, military. This bestowed it with power
alignment of protesters and military which is the truly unique element to in the transitional government’s
combined to unseat Bashir, and the emerge from the Revolution, in the formative period. It nominated the
transitional government that took sense that Sudanese political parties civilian ministers of the government
over institutionalised this unusual have long functioned under the fiction including the prime minister.
union. What emerged was a civilian- of having mass representational Thereafter its governing mandate
led government on one side, under the power. The protesters are organised technically ended – but the FFC
prime minister, Abdalla Hamdouk; into grassroots Local Revolutionary took on some government functions
on the other, the military. The Committees and constitute the as it saw fit, inserting itself into
international community breathed missing ingredient of popular areas of particular interest such
a sigh of relief over the accord and democratic power that the Revolution as the peace negotiations. As the
the further bloodshed it prevented. unlocked. But the protesters have also transition stumbled, in part due to
But they and many Sudanese pinned intentionally rejected creating any the perceived self-dealing of the FFC’s

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