Far-left political party in Sudan
The
Sudanese Communist Party
(
abbr.
SCP
;
Arabic
:
????? ??????? ????????
,
romanized
:
Al-Hizb al-Shuyui al-Sudani
) is a
communist party
in
Sudan
. Founded in 1946, it was a major force in
Sudanese politics
in the early post-independence years, and was one of the two most influential communist parties in the
Arab world
, the other being the
Iraqi Communist Party
.
The party helped overthrow the military government of
Ibrahim Abboud
in the
October 1964 Revolution
and joined the subsequent transitional government.
Anti-communists
in the post-revolution government attempted to outlaw the party but were unsuccessful; the SCP contested two parliamentary elections in the 1960s.
In 1971,
President
Gaafar Nimeiry
launched a wave of repression against the party after
a failed coup
implicated the involvement of a number of communist military officers. The party's most prominent figures –
Abdel Khaliq Mahjub
,
Joseph Garang
, Alshafi Ahmed Elshikh, Babkir Elnour and
Hashem al Atta
– were executed, and the party was officially banned. The party resurfaced after Nimeiry was
overthrown in 1985
.
The SCP opposed army colonel
Omar al-Bashir
's
1989 coup
and his subsequent 25-year-long tenure as Sudan's head of state. The party is opposed to
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan
's
Transitional Military Council
and the measures enacted after the
2019 coup
.
History
[
edit
]
Foundation and growth
[
edit
]
The
Sudanese Movement for National Liberation
(also known by its Arabic acronym
HASTU
) was founded in 1946, through the merger of two Sudanese communist groups ? the
Omdurman
group belonging to
Henri Curiel
's
Egyptian Movement for National Liberation
and a group in
Khartoum
which had been organized by Herbert Storey, a British soldier and member of the
Communist Party of Great Britain
.
During the 1940s and 1950s the party became popular amongst students, and it helped establish the Students' Congress in 1949.
The party originally worked largely through different front organisations such as the
Anti-Imperialist Front
, through which it contested the
1953 parliamentary election
.
At the third conference of the Sudanese Movement for National Liberation, held in February 1956, the party changed its name to the Sudanese Communist Party.
A hundred party members attended the conference, which elected a 31-member
central committee
.
The party joined other groups in opposition to the military government of
Ibrahim Abboud
, and played a key role in toppling the government in the
October 1964 Revolution
, joining the subsequent transitional government.
The party contested two elections in the 1960s and came into conflict with the
Umma Party
and
National Unionist Party
-led government. Nevertheless, the party went on to win 8 seats in the
1965 election
, with Ahmad Sulayman being elected from a territorial constituency, and
Abdel Khaliq Mahjub
being elected as an independent. Another member of the party,
Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim
, was the first woman elected to the Sudanese parliament.
The
Sino-Soviet split
caused a split within the party which lasted from late 1964 to early 1965. Pro-Chinese members were either expelled or chose to leave voluntarily to form the
Sudanese Communist Party ? Revolutionary Leadership
.
From 1965 to 1967, a number of parties attempted to outlaw the SCP from partaking in parliamentary elections. Some members advocated the establishment of an ideologically broader Socialist Party of the Sudan, which lasted from 1967 to 1969. Other members advocated operating underground.
Nimeiry government and 1971 coup
[
edit
]
The military
overthrew the Sudanese government on 25 May 1969
in a
coup d'etat
led by
Gaafar Nimeiry
. The SCP gained influence in the new administration,
and SCP policies, such as those pertaining to regional autonomy for the south, were adopted by the Nimeiry government.
Joseph Garang
, an SCP member, was made the Government Minister of Southern Affairs. The SCP was supportive of negotiations which led to the
Addis Ababa Agreement of 1972
.
On 19 July 1971, a group of army officers led by Major
Hashem al-Atta
launched a coup d'etat
against the Nimeiry government. However, Nimeiry loyalists retook the capital
Khartoum
three days later, freed Nimeiry, and restored his government. As many of the conspirators were members of the SCP, Nimeiry blamed the party for the coup and executed several of its leaders, including Mahjub and Garang.
The failed coup had its roots in historical ideological differences within the party, between the pro-Soviet faction and the nationalist faction. The nationalists, such as Ahmad Sulayman and
Farouk Abu Issa
, wished to cooperate with the Nimeiry government. The pro-Soviet faction, led by Mahjub, was less supportive and opposed the 1969 coup by Nimeiry.
Post-Nimeiry
[
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]
On 6 April 1985,
Abdel Rahman Swar al-Dahab
launched a coup d'etat
and overthrew Nimeiry. In this new climate the SCP, now led by
Muhammad Ibrahim Nugud
, resumed its former above-ground activities and took part in the
1986 election
, winning 3 seats, and returning
Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim
to the National Assembly.
Following the
1989 Sudanese coup d'etat
, however, the SCP was again repressed, with the party being banned and its leaders being arrested.
Recent developments
[
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]
In a 2007 interview, then general secretary of the SCP
Muhammad Ibrahim Nugud
claimed that the party enjoyed support from a wide section of Sudanese society, including "workers, farmers, students, women's groups, minority groups, in the
Nuba Mountains
, in the
south
, and in
Darfur
".
Human rights activist Suleman Hamid El Haj was most recently the assistant secretary and spokesman for the party.
After the independence of South Sudan in 2011, the southern branch of the party split to form the
Communist Party of South Sudan
.
In 2008, the SCP and the
South African Communist Party
jointly launched the African Left Network to facilitate greater cooperation amongst
African
communist parties.
Nugud died in
London
, the United Kingdom, on 22 March 2012.
By then he had served as the party's general secretary for over four decades. He was succeeded by
Muhammad Mukhtar al-Khatib
.
The party participated in the
2018?2019 Sudanese protests
and demonstrated against the measures enacted by the
Transitional Military Council
in the aftermath of the
2019 coup d'etat
.
In May 2022, the
Sudanese Armed Forces
arrested several prominent party members, including al-Khatib.
The SCP called for an immediate ceasefire between rival factions of the military government which
began clashing on 15 April 2023
.
The
Rapid Support Forces
later raided and occupied the SCP's headquarters in Khartoum on 25 May 2023.
Ideology
[
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]
Historical
[
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]
Following its founding in 1946, the party was noted for its highly progressive policies and positions. Until the 1960s, it was the only party in Sudan which allowed women to join.
It was also the only party which advocated autonomy for South Sudan and integrated political figures from the south into its leadership.
During the
Cold War
the party developed two main factions, an Orthodox
Marxist?Leninist
and pro-
Soviet
faction led by
Abdel Khaliq Mahjub
, and a nationalist faction led by Ahmad Sulayman and
Farouk Abu Issa
, which emphasized a more localized Sudanese interpretation of Marxism.
The party previously supported the policies and positions of the
Sudan People's Liberation Movement
(SPLM) in the early 1990s.
Current
[
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]
The SCP advocates a return to democratic rule in Sudan and opposed the secession of southern Sudan. The freer political climate following the signing of the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement
has allowed the party to be more active in the country. Party leader Muhammad Ibrahim Nugud came out of two decades of hiding in 2008. Party members suffering during the decades of NIF rule had pleaded with him to be more active but Nugud feared arrest. Nugud visited Juba on 28 November 2008 at the invitation of southern Sudanese communists. The trip was aimed at "bolstering the activities of the SCP in southern Sudan".
He was received by SPLM Deputy Secretary General Ann Itto.
Party leaders
[
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]
General Secretary
[
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]
Election results
[
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]
Results of Sudanese parliamentary elections contested
Year
|
%
|
Seats
|
1953
[i]
|
[
?
]
|
|
1965
|
[
?
]
|
|
1968
|
0.1
|
|
1986
|
1.7
|
|
- Notes
- ^
The party did not register with authorities prior to the 1953 election and ran candidates under a legal umbrella organisation, the
Anti-Imperialist Front
.
See also
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]
References
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]
Citations
[
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]
Sources
[
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]
Books
[
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]
Journal articles
[
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]
- Ben Hammou, Salah (2023). "The Varieties of Civilian Praetorianism: Evidence From Sudan's Coup Politics".
Armed Forces & Society
: 0095327X2311556.
doi
:
10.1177/0095327X231155667
.
News and magazine articles
[
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]
Interviews
[
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]
Websites
[
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]
Further reading
[
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]
External links
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]
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