Fathi Fadl is spokesman of the Sudanese Communist Party central committee. He is a former member of the Sudanese Teachers Union and executive secretary of the International Centre of Trade Union Rights.

He was born in Omdurman. His maternal grandmother was from Southern Sudan and her father was an Iraqi Jew. Fathi’s father is a Nubian from the very north of Sudan. 

The SCP played a leading role in the recent revolution. He spoke to international editor Steve Sweeney on recent developments and the continuing struggle for democracy in Sudan.

1. Can you explain the processes that led to the downfall of Omar al-Bashir? He had been in power for a long time and seemed to be in a strong position, having avoided being charged for war crimes in Darfur and other brutal acts against the people of Sudan.

All the 30 years of the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood — that is, since their coup in June 1989 — were years of struggle and confrontation between different sectors of the masses, especially the trade union movement, and the continuation of the bitter civil war in Southern Sudan.

As early as December 1989 the Sudanese Doctors Union declared strike action demanding the restoration of democracy and trade union rights. The strike action was strongly repressed, leaders of the SDU were sentenced to death and long years of imprisonment. However, later on, they were all released.

That first confrontation had signalled the beginning of a long and arduous struggle to come. It was around the issues of fighting against the bankrupt economic policy, imposed on the instructions of the World Bank and the IMF, which resulted in the dismissal of 250,000 worker and civil servants, the privatisation of the public sector, including health and educational sectors, the continuation of the civil war and its spread to Darfur and Kordufan and finally the split of the country.

At all junctures and under very difficult conditions the struggle continued with mass uprisings, in ’95, ’97, 2003 and 2013. The accumulations of these struggles, coupled with the repression, the continuation of the civil war in Darfur, and the lessons learnt have paved the way to the mass uprising in January 2018 which continued unabated till the explosion in December 2018.

The palace coup which led to the removal of al-Bashir was an attempt to abort the uprising, and extend the lifeline to the dying regime.

Despite the many successes achieved, it is still a long way to wrench all the people’s rights and implement all the main demands enshrined in the Declaration of the Forces for Freedom and Change.

2. The Sudanese Communist Party played an important role in shaping the movement. A number of leading cadres were arrested and held during the protests. What was the party’s view on the best way to take the movement forward and what points of disagreement/agreement were there within the broader forces, including the Sudanese Professionals Association?

From day one of the coup, the SCP issued a special number of its newspaper Almidan from the underground, condemning the coup, calling for a broad front to topple the dictatorial regime. This call was heeded and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was formed in October 1989.

However due the feuds between the two traditional parties, the presence of its leadership abroad, and the lack of co-ordination with the opposition forces inside the country as well as the intervention of the regional governments, especially Egypt and Eritrea, the NDA was weakened, and by the time the war ended in Southern Sudan, gradually the NDA faded in the shadows.

A turning point in the struggle of the Sudanese people was a result of the signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement which resulted in a margin of democracy that allowed political parties to operate in a semi-legal atmosphere.

In 2010 the party declared its position that its main goal was to organise the masses in a broad front to fight for the overthrow of the regime and restoration of democracy.

The SCP made use of the small margin of democracy, held its 5th Congress and began the process to reorganise itself and its branches, to restore the democratic alliances within the professional bodies and among the workers, the students and women.

As a result of patient work, under very difficult conditions and repression directed against all opposition forces, but especially the SCP, these efforts were successful in strengthening the mass protest movement and in opening avenues for mass joint struggles.

In September 2013 the masses took to the streets of the capital to protest against an increase in prices of the main foodstuffs and petrol and medicine. Over 200 young men and women lost their lives.

Again lessons were learnt, not only from the September uprising but also from the so-called Arab Spring in both Egypt and Tunisia.

Following the successful holding of the 6th Congress of the SCP in 2016, and ridding itself from the right-wing tendency, the leadership embarked on a new course, sending all its CC members and cadres to work at the grassroots to strengthen party branches, to establish opposition alliances on the ground through the building of the resistance committees in the workplaces, the institutions of learning and residential areas.

These efforts have resulted in strengthening the national forces and increasing the ability of the masses to confront the repressive organs of the regime in a more organised manner.

The continuation of the struggles and the pressure exerted by the masses, coupled with the bankrupt policies of the regime, and its isolation both internally and internationally, as well as the role of international solidarity, have led to the appearance of cracks in the regime.

A number of leading figures starting fleeing the sinking ship. So by December 19, with first mass action in Atbara, the situation had reached the stage of a deep revolutionary crisis. The political struggle of the masses had reached unprecedentedly high levels. The regime was gradually collapsing. The conditions were ripe for real change in the country.

As expected in a broad front which encompasses all the forces against the regime, differences appear according to class and political interests.

It became clear that the main goal of the Umma Party, led by Sadig Almahdi, was the removal of Bashir, and for speedy a election and a role for the military.

Other forces, while agreeing on the declaration of the Freedom and Change Alliance, differed on how to tackle the issue of state power, dismantling of the regime and the role of the military, especially those TMC members implicated in the June 3 massacres.

As for the SPA, it is similar to a trade union organisation, grouping different forces within its ranks.

Communists in each profession are working within these bodies and convey SCP positions.

In the majority of cases our positions are similar. However the constitutional document, which gave the TMC a major role in government, weakened the role of the international independent committee to investigate the crimes committed since December 19, and gave the TMC a kind of protection against prosecution.

3. The EU was found to be funding the Janjaweed/Rapid Support Forces in a bid to stem the migrant flow from Africa. The US also moved from a position of sanctions and wanting to prosecute Bashir as a war criminal to supporting him in return for a CIA office in Sudan, allegedly. What was the role of imperialism in terms of propping up the regime, but also the protest movement and Transitional Military Council?

 It was not only the EU and the US which maintained working relations with Bashir, but also China, Russia and the regional Arab countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Qatar and Turkey. These working relations were based on the fact that the dictatorial regime is the suitable regime to serve the interests of imperialism, Arab reactionary forces and the International Muslim Brotherhood movement.

And indeed the regime was and remains an obedient servant to these forces.

However, imperialist forces and their local and regional forces were convinced that the regime had reached its doomed end and a change was necessary.

They advanced the “Soft Landing” project which aims at rationalising the regime’s policies and creating a democratic margin, to attract certain opposition forces whose interests do not differ greatly from the regime, with the purpose of enlarging the social basis of the regime and giving it a new lease of life.

That’s why these forces supported the December uprising, but their support was limited.

All of them act as a major block on the advancement of the uprising towards its major goals: that is, the dismantling of the regime, its liquidation and the establishment of a democratic regime that paves the way for the completion of the tasks of the national democratic revolution.

4. How powerful and dangerous is Hemeti and who is backing him?

Hemeti is the strongest member of the TMC. His danger stems from the fact that he is the sole and only leader of the gangs of the Janjaweed, and he is ready to commit his troops to the highest bidder.

His troops mainly come from the Arab tribes of Chad, Niger and Sudan.

He has 14,000 troops fighting in Yemen, another 2,000 were sent recently to strengthen Haftar of Libya.

In both cases himself and his troops are paid by both the Emirates government and the Saudis.

So, now he is in the pay of the Arab regimes, tomorrow he may change sides depending on who offers the highest price.

He is also working with the Russian government in controlling the goldmining industry in Sudan.

5. There has been agreement on a joint transitional body to move towards civilian rule. What is the Sudanese CP view on this and how likely is it to hold? What dangers are there?

The SCP agreed with all the opposition forces on the Declaration of the Freedom and Change Alliance which covers the transitional period.

That include the establishment of civilian rule on three levels — a presidential council, a council of ministers and a legislative body which acts as a parliament.

After the palace coup of April 11, which was staged by the members of the security committee of the regime to abort the uprising, the Freedom and Change Alliance decided to negotiate with the TMC only on one issue that is the transfer of power to Freedom and Change.

However, the negotiations dragged on for a long time, with the African Union and other international and regional forces interfering and influencing the course of negotiations.

Instead of transferring power to the civilians, it turned not only into sharing power with the TMC but giving it the lion’s share.

That is why the SCP has refused to participate on any level of government. It will continue to play its role within the ranks of the Freedom and Change Alliance and continue mobilising the masses to advance the uprising.

6. What role can the international community play in supporting the democratic forces in Sudan?

International solidarity played an important role in supporting and helping the struggle of the Sudanese peoples. It helped to fetter the hands of all dictatorial regimes that ruled Sudan.

That is why during the nine months of the continued mass protest actions in Sudan, international solidarity became one of the main sources of inspiration for the young people who occupied the streets of the capital and the main cities in Sudan.

We pay special tribute to the role of the communist and workers’ parties in the solidarity movement.

The uprising is continuing in Sudan. The struggle to achieve all the goals of the democratic revolution has just started.

Yes, the democratic movement in Sudan has scored a number of victories, but that is not enough. That is why we call for more solidarity actions, more moral and material support.

The present situation offers a lot of chances to rebuild a vast democratic movement. To restore and strengthen the democratic trade union movement, organise the peasants, the students, youth and women to defend, promote and consolidate democratic freedoms, to stop the civil war and restore peace, to hold to account all those who committed crimes against the Sudanese peoples, reorganise the state, the army, the security, to dissolve the militias and the Janjaweed.

These are important tasks and the more our democratic movement advances, the more imperialism and local reaction will intensify their conspiracies and intervention to abort the uprising.

That is why we appeal to communists, democrats and international public opinion to follow the fight in Sudan and continue to support the just struggle of the Sudanese peoples.