Doha meeting for Sudanese civil actors proposes plan to unite political forces over transitional agenda

October 7, 2022 (DOHA) – Sudanese civil society actors agreed in a meeting held in Doha to adopt a roadmap to bring together the divided-political forces, saying their unity is key to restoring democratic transition.

The two-day meeting, which is facilitated by the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies (CHS) in Doha, mainly gathered Sudanese civil society activists, academics and journalists on October 4-5.

The participants discussed the national crisis and failure to reach a social contract; peace, justice, the aftermath and risks of the military coup of October 25, 2021, as well as ways to develop a roadmap for democratic transition.

Bakry Eljack, a Sudanese visiting researcher at the CHS who led the organization of the meeting told Sudan Tribune that the ultimate purpose of the round-table was to discuss the issues that caused the current stalemate and develop a roadmap that paves the way to unify pro-democracy forces around a vision and concrete plans regarding democratic transitions.

Eljack added that having a unified vision and a clear agenda for the transition is a necessity for the pro-democracy groups, whether they reach a negotiated political settlement with the coup leader or manage to take control of the state and assume power.

“Such a vision with its programs rules out competition among civilians for power and mitigates further fragmentation among them,” he pointed out.

“At least they can say we have one goal, but we might have multiple means and ways to reach this goal. Currently, they do not appear to have the same goal because they are investing in expanding their differences as well as increasing animosity among them based on false perceptions and narratives about each other,” he further stressed.

The Sudanese academics, intellectuals and civil society discussed how to help civilian groups to reach a common understanding to achieve a democratic transition in Sudan.

“It is a really, just a beginning and the meeting went well,” he said.

“The participants come up with a diagnosis and eventually an action plan for the next groups to come and design a hope and a vision for how we approach democratic transition,” Eljack further disclosed.

The CHS plans to organize a series of meetings in the coming weeks in Doha for the Forces for Freedom and Changes, Resistance Committees, professional groups and signatories of the Juba peace agreement to discuss an exit from the protracted crisis.

According to Eljack, this effort is not an attempt to hijack, derail or compete with the process facilitated by the Trilateral Mechanism with the support of the international community and the region.

“What we are trying to do is create a broad consensus that gives civilian forces the acceptance and legitimacy to be able to govern,” he emphasized.

The tripartite facilitation panel of the UNITAMS, African Union and IGAD aims to facilitate an intra-Sudanese dialogue to agree on a transitional constitution enabling the restoration of the civilian-led transition.

(ST)