IGAD’s Impartiality Is Under Scrutiny 2/3
By Dr. Ahmed A. Bagi (PhD)
IGAD and the Transitional Period in Sudan
An IGAD mission visited Khartoum from January 29 to February 2, 2022, and met with members of the civil and military components as part of an initiative launched after Sudan witnessed serious political developments that accompanied the transitional period in December 2018 when Bashir’s regime collapsed. To play a geostrategic role, IGAD’s mission became part of what was known as the Trilateral Mechanism, consisting of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), the African Union (AU), and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Nonetheless, instead of serving its member states’ national interest in the line of its charter, IGAD’s mission became a mere puppet of the UNITAMS head Volker Perthes, who himself was a part of the problem instead of facilitating the dialogue to build a solid transitional period towards a democratic transition. The UNITAMS overstepped its mandate, and its head became part of the problem when he sided with the small minority of the Freedom and Justice Forces (FJF) and their de facto representative of the interim Bar Association who collaborated with a foreign civil society to draft a controversial constitution, opposed by the broad-based Sudanese society.
The controversial interim Bar Association constitution developed into a political framework that the trilateral mechanism accepted as a basis for the compromise to rescue the transitional period. Nonetheless, despite its controversy and without consideration for the broad-based agreement of Sudanese civil forces on the “Framework Agreement,” the trilateral mechanism, including IGAD, welcomed the signing of the Political Framework Agreement between a minority of civilian political forces and the military institution in Sudan. However, the signing alienated the stockholder’s opinions. Things began to fall apart, and the Rapid Speed Forces (RSF), with its allies (FJF), started to bully everyone and held workshops to deliberate on their Political Framework Agreement issues, including reforming the military and security sectors.
The irony is that in the workshop reforming of the military, the RSF refused to be under the command of the Sudanese Armed Forces and requested that the RSF be integrated into the Sudanese Armed Forces within ten years times. However, the RSF demands are unacceptable, and it is going nowhere to solve the political deadlock.
Though signing the pariah political framework complicated the situation, IGAD kept silent and failed to raise any concerns or suggest an alternative solution. To add insult to injury, IGAD was seen as a puppet to the expelled UNITAMS. Here, IGAD again preached its charter dealing with the notion of conflict prevention that never materialized to stop the situation from escalating, eventually resulting in a bloody war that is still ongoing.
