"Where is the peace?": Darfur youth reject the Forces of Freedom and Change

Overview

In a representation of anger at the under-representation of those from Sudan’s peripheries, youth in El-Fasher, Darfur chant “where is the peace?” during a rally by the Forces of Freedom and Change coalition. Meanwhile, leaders of two factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement, who the youth are said to support, have issued statements accusing the FFC of racism and being a reincarnation of Omar al-Bashir’s regime.

This briefing is also available as a Twitter thread, with videos and pictures included.

Sudan Tribune (2 September) reported that Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) leaders were forced to cancel their public meeting in North Darfur, following a hostile protest. High-profile FFC representatives from leading opposition parties and the Professionals Association went to Darfur in an attempt to build national support for the transitional government.

The FFC delegation included Sara Nagdalla of the Umma Party, Khalid Omar of the Sudanese Congress Party and Mohammed Nagi Alasam of the Sudanese Professionals Association.

Alasam is widely viewed as the poster-boy of #SudanUprising - he is received very positively by the public. But it was reported that stones were thrown at the FFC once he took to the stage.

The group of youth who protested against the FFC reportedly sympathise with Darfuri rebel groups. They carried banners against the Political and Constitutional Declarations that mark Sudan’s power-sharing agreement.

For reference, Sudanese rebel groups have continually publicly attacked the FFC for ignoring the rebels insistence that peace in Sudan’s conflict zones is a priority of the transitional government.

In a Facebook statement, the rebel group the ‘Sudan Liberation Movement’ (Abdelwahid Nur faction) likened the Sudanese transitional government to the second reincarnation of Omar Al Bashir’s regime, labelling the power-sharing agreement a “blood-stained compromise”

Meanwhile, Minni Minawi, the leader of his Sudan Liberation Movement has outright accused the FFC of racism and hijacking the Sudanese revolution. (Radio Dabanga, September 1).