Sudan’s path to civilian rule key to funding, says US envoy
US support for Sudan could be at risk if the path to civilian rule is impeded, says US special envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman.
“If the transition is interrupted, if one side or the other in this [civilian-military] partnership tries to prevail, then the US support for all of these issues, including debt relief, will be in question,” Mr Feltman said.
The US has provided nearly $337 million this year to support Sudan’s transitional government, after the military removed dictator Omar Al Bashir in 2019.
But tension between the government and the military has shown the frailty of the transition to democratic rule.
The two camps engaged in a public and bitter war of words after a failed military coup last month, each blaming the other for the country’s many woes.
The concern in US President Joe Biden’s administration is such that Mr Feltman was making his second visit to Khartoum in less than a month this weekend.
“My trip will reinforce the strong US support for the Sudanese transition, but also make it clear that our continued support depends on that transition,” said Mr Feltman on Wednesday.
“We want to see what we can do to support the forward momentum.”
After Al Bashir’s fall, Washington removed Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism and helped Khartoum in its talks with the International Monetary Fund.
The IMF granted the African nation $50 billion in debt relief and $2.4bn in funding last June. But power cuts, medicine shortages, currency devaluation and inflation have fuelled anger at the government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
There were mass demonstrations against the government on Thursday.
“Transitions are messy,” Mr Feltman said.
“The civilians in this partnership did not get to choose who their military partners
were in this transition. The military, likewise, cannot choose who their civilian partners are.
“The military cannot be sidelined in this transition process. They’re part of the transition. But the military also has to give the civilians the space to work out the issues on their side.”
He said unity was key to the success of the Juba peace accords signed in October last year between the transitional government and rebel groups.
“We’re calling on the military and the civilians to pull together in a unified way behind the concept of the constitutional declaration and the Juba peace agreement,” he said.
Further critical steps include the establishment of a constitutional court and transitional justice mechanisms, and the formation of an election commission, Mr Feltman said.
“We have been in discussion with our Gulf partners. They understand that the success of the transition in Sudan depends on maintaining this military-civilian leadership until the election,” he said.
Sudan is expected to hold elections in 2023. Until then, Mr Feltman said that Gulf countries understood the links between debt relief and progress on the transition, and the priority of backing existing transitional authorities and “not one person or one side”.
Sudan and Israel agreed to normalise relations a year ago, but the Sudanese government said the agreement was a preliminary one that needed the approval of an elected parliament to enter into force.
Mr Feltman said the pace of engagement was up to the two countries to decide.
“We were encouraged that Sudan signed … and that shows the recognition of the benefits of expanded collaboration with Israel,” he said.