The Modest Ones…!!

By Al-Tahir Satti

One of the signs of returning political sobriety is that activists of the Sumood (Resilience) alliance have humbled themselves to the point of expressing readiness to sit with the Democratic Bloc and the forces aligned with, and supportive of, the Sudanese Armed Forces in the Battle of Dignity. Their aim, as stated in their latest communiqué, is to jointly manage the political process.

This is a positive development—indeed, a healthy reversal of the exclusionary mindset that previously rejected any broadening of participation in the Framework Agreement. It also contrasts sharply with Mohamed al-Faki’s earlier remark to the military—“We’ve taken a hit to our political standing just by sitting with you”—to which Hemedti angrily snapped back: “And who even knows you? Are we the nobodies here?”

But days turned, and much money flowed beneath the bridges of shifting alliances. Al-Faki’s Sumood and Hemedti’s Janjaweed became milk-brothers under the sheikhdom of Abu Dhabi, while the national forces remained—as they always were—deeply patriotic, loyal to their army, their people, and their country against the Tatar of scattered Arabs and the Mongols of the Emirati sheikhdom.

It is good that Sumood is now prepared to sit with those who share the dignity trenches with the army in defense of the homeland. Yet two questions arise:
Will the Abu Dhabi sheikhdom allow its protégé to sit with the “remnants” and “war-mongers” (i.e., the national forces)? And will the national forces agree to sit with the protégé of the patron of the Janjaweed?

In my view, if the Abu Dhabi sheikhdom permits its Sumood activists to engage with the Democratic Bloc and all forces supporting the Armed Forces, the national forces will not reject the idea of sitting with Sumood in pursuit of a just peace—for the quest for a just peace is the ultimate goal of the army and the national forces.

The national forces are responsible enough, even though Nour Al-Da’im Taha, a leader in the Democratic Bloc, once said in an interview: “Sitting with the agents of this phase and the political incubator of the militia—even over a game of dominoes in a popular café—diminishes the political standing of anyone who sits with them, even if that person were Nelson Mandela.”