Does the Sudanese Umma Party’s vision for reform reflect an internal conflict?

The Umma Party met with the head of Taqadum, Abdullah Hamdok, and handed him his vision about the alliance (social networking sites)

Khartoum -

Surprisingly, the National Umma Party in Sudan pushed for a vision to reform the Civil Forces Alliance, known as “Taqaddum” for short, a coalition that was announced in the Ethiopian capital in late October of last year, and Abdullah Hamdok, the former Prime Minister, was chosen to chair it, to work in a manner It was essential to stop the war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, and was joined by the Forces of Freedom and Change, civil organizations, resistance committees, professional bodies and initiatives, in addition to armed struggle movements.

During the period between March 3 and 7 of this year, the Supreme Coordination Council of the Umma Party held meetings in Cairo, which discussed, as part of efforts to stop the war, the efforts made by the Civil Forces Alliance, and the party’s participation in it. The meetings concluded with the necessity of reforming it, and then discussing the party’s future in it.

The party gave the Civil Forces Coordination Coordination two weeks to respond to its reform proposals, in order to then decide the necessary procedure to determine its role.

Evaluation of the Umma Party

The vision proposed by the Umma Party, which was delivered to the head of the “Taqaddum” coordination in Cairo last Saturday, spoke about the positives of the nascent organization and what it was able to accomplish during the last period, with its components agreeing on a road map to end the war, in addition to the intense diplomatic movements and contact with regional powers. And international organizations interested in Sudanese affairs.

She pointed out - among a series of positives - that the “Taqaddum” coalition is the largest entity recognized by the international community, which helps the Sudanese people to strengthen the process of democratic transformation, relieve Sudan of its debts, and rebuild after the war.

On the other hand, the paper talked about the negatives that marred the performance and composition of Taqadum, most notably the predominance of the role of civil society organizations, by granting them 70% of the leadership body, compared to 30% to organizations, political alliances, and armed struggle movements.

The vision expressed reservations about placing parties and armed movements in one category within the structural organization, and spoke of Taqadum’s inability to achieve the required expansion of the entity, despite its contacts with many active forces outside the coalition.

The party’s memorandum considered Taqadum’s signing of a political declaration with rapid support - at the beginning of last January in Addis Ababa - as something that contradicts the correct foundations of mediation in resolving conflicts, as well as contradicting the course of action agreed upon in the road map issued by Taqadum and the outcomes. Its Executive Office, which limited contact with both sides of the war to deliberating the cessation of hostilities.

The reform vision addressed what it said were “suspicions of the absence of positive neutrality, and media bias toward one of the two sides in the war,” and also pointed to the lack of objective standards for the representation of political parties that take into account differences in weights.

Internal disputes

Observers spoke about the strength of the Umma Party’s influence if it decided to leave the “Taqaddum” coalition, which in turn is facing a pressure campaign after its agreement with Rapid Support, in which it appeared as a political support for the forces accused of carrying out widespread violations against civilians in Sudan, which threatens the political future of the nascent organization, in The shadow of the hostility campaigns launched by forces supporting the army and rejecting the “progress” movements in general.

A senior leader in Taqadum, who spoke to Al Jazeera Net, also interpreted the Umma Party’s reform memorandum as a “reflection of an internal conflict,” especially since three of its leaders actively participated in all the steps taken by the coordination, and the party was not far from any decision taken in the coalition.

The same spokesman says that “the meetings of the Supreme Coordination Council of the Umma Party, which resulted in the vision, aimed to make a decision to leave Taqadum, and it was replaced by the reform vision.” The leader points out that the Supreme Coordination Council includes leaders close to the former regime, who are constantly trying to drag the Umma Party away from Democratic civil forces.

At the same time, he confirms that “Taqadum” is in the process of formulating a response to the Umma Party’s vision, and delivering it to him perhaps within less than two weeks, pointing out that many of the points raised in the memorandum, including reviewing the party’s representation and the percentages granted to political forces versus civil society organizations and the representation of women, Correct and objective issues will be answered.

Hamdok rejects the accusations of bias towards Rapid Support, and said in his statements in Cairo, “We are not biased towards any party. We wrote our vision and presented it to the army and Rapid Support, which accepted the discussions and attended. Do we reject it?”

He pointed out that Army Commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan agreed to meet with the coordination in Addis Ababa, after he had insisted on holding the meeting in Port Sudan.

“The Nation” participated in the “Taqaddum” coalition at the level of Secretary General of the Party, Al-Wathiq Al-Barir (social networking sites)

Criticism of the move

A statement issued by the party’s cadres and leaders, which was not accompanied by any signatures, is devoted to the hypothesis of internal disputes in the Umma Party, as it explains that “the presence in the Progress Coordination was derived from the legitimacy of representation in the coalition of the Forces of Freedom and Change, approved by the Political Bureau, and that the party is committed to its presence in Progress.” Accordingly".

Journalist and political analyst Othman Fadlallah points out that the Umma Party is suffering from a structural defect, as “the sterile management method led to the emergence of three currents, all of them fighting for leadership, according to conflicting visions.” He says, “The intensity of the conflict increased when the party entered into a coalition of progress, after a group saw The new coalition is represented by figures who do not hold leadership positions, but the party participated in progress at the level of its Secretary-General, Al-Wathiq Al-Barir, alongside Al-Sadiq Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi.”

Fadlallah quotes Hamdok as confirming that the Umma Party’s memorandum includes objective points and others that need discussion, and that “the Umma Party is an integral part of Taqadum, but its effort to reform the alliance must not be through memorandums and granting deadlines, but rather from Taqaddam’s agencies,” recalling that the party’s president and secretary-general are in Leading bodies of the coalition.

The political analyst believes that “the decision to freeze the Umma Party’s participation in Taqadum will not stand,” but he expects that the party will be subjected to a strong split, and that “the party’s exit from Taqadum or its freezing of its membership will have major effects, most notably the exit of the revolutionary bloc within the party, and thus the Ummah will lose its position in the middle.” Any upcoming movement, and the departure of the Umma Party will greatly weaken the coalition, in favor of the Democratic Bloc, which includes forces accused of being loyal to the army and the isolated regime.”

Source: Al Jazeera