With the anniversary of the military coup in Sudan approaching, there has been a growing trend in building democratic institutions with stronger legitimacy among trade unions and resistance committees. These groups, which draw membership on the basis of residence or profession, have revamped their efforts to get institutionalized through democratic processes. The aim is to have democratically elected bodies that represent their respective professions or neighborhoods. This venture is particularly important for these two groups, as they have been the main leaders of the Sudanese revolution and have vast constituencies among the grassroots. In Sudan and beyond, various pro-democracy actors have celebrated these processes, as they are essentially building a solid foundation for a bottom-up democracy, and are further de-legitimizing the de facto rule of the military junta. On the other hand, there have been tireless efforts to come up with political charters that would provide a constitutional framework for Sudan’s forthcoming transitional period. The most prominent documents are the resistance committees’ charters and the Sudanese Bar Association’s proposed transitional constitution.
This past August, a key event took place and drew the nation’s attention: the Sudanese journalists elected the first democratic union in decades. This process was described as historic, particularly in terms of defying the military rule by openly holding a democratic election in the midst of an authoritarian context. This process has demonstrated the longing of the Sudanese people for democracy in all spheres of public life and their pronounced resistance to the dictatorship. Furthermore, the journalists’ election has greatly influenced other trade unions and resistance committees to accelerate their institutionalization processes, and to shift from being run by temporary or shadow steering committees to democratically elected bodies. The political and constitutional charters that were produced by various actors are vital for imagining Sudan’s forthcoming democratic transition. Yet the work on building democratic institutions will have a larger long-term impact beyond ending the current military coup, as it lays the ground for sustainable democracy in the country.
Trade unions in Sudan
Trade unions have played very important roles throughout Sudan’s history. They were officially established in 1947 and played crucial roles in the October 1964 and April 1985 revolutions, in mobilizing citizens against authoritarian regimes. Hence, when Sudan’s former dictator president Omar Al-Bashir launched a coup in 1989, his regime immediately dissolved trade unions and formed new unions led by members affiliated with the regime. Members of the legitimate unions that were dissolved came under continuous attacks, and were subject to unlawful detentions and property confiscation. However, some professions continued to operate through shadow unions, opposing the official unions that were established by Bashir’s regime. In 2018, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), an unofficial alliance of the shadow unions of doctors, lawyers, journalists, and teachers, started taking a more formal shape. This alliance came together in response to the increasing economic pressures and austerity measures. They played an instrumental role during the 2018-2019 revolution, where they organized demonstrations to introduce minimum wages, eventually leading to the ousting of Bashir in 2019 and the formation of a transitional civilian-led government. Following that, the civilian-led government dismantled the unions affiliated with the ousted regime as part of legal reforms to take apart the former dictatorial system. Nevertheless, during the transitional period between 2019 and 2021, members of the shadow unions that represented different professions have struggled to establish formal and legitimate trade unions, due to disagreements and delays in passing a new trade union act.
Despite the lack of a trade union law, some 17 groups of professionals (mostly university teachers, pharmacists, and information and communications technology professionals) within specific institutions or localities got organized and established representative unions within their respective institutions or localities. Yet, the first elected union that represented an entire profession across the country, was the journalists’ union. Sudanese journalists, who used to work under fragmented shadow unions, formed the country’s first independent professional union in 33 years. The union’s elections process was described as exemplary, where 659 out of the 1,164 members of the union took part in the vote. Given the lack of a trade union law, the journalists’ union derives its legitimacy from international laws such as the International Labor Organization Convention which Sudan ratified in March 2021. The journalists union election was regarded as a crucial step in re-establishing freedoms after the military coup of October 2021. One of the journalists who took part in the process noted that: “It [was] a notable day for the unions, a day in which [journalists] exercised democracy under a military rule and despite all the manacles that prevented [them] from doing so.” Another journalist suggested that: “It [was] the greatest democratic exercise in more than 30 years in the history of unions.”
The impact of the journalists’ union election
The historic journalists’ union election is an important step toward building a civilian democratic state that represents the aspirations of the Sudanese people, as it demonstrates the possibility of forming democratic institutions under a shrinking civic space. Hence, it was applauded by pro-democracy actors on the ground. It also had a contagious effect, inspiring other trade unions, as well as resistance committees, to follow the journalists’ path in establishing democratic and representative institutions. Sudanese journalists have notably shifted the context, where they capitalized on a critical juncture to overcome their differences and came behind a unified process. Various professions have instantly started engaging in discussions to overcome their divisions and to hold elections to establish their legitimate unions. This includes factions of pharmacists, ICT professionals, and university teachers. It is expected that these discussions will be followed by processes to establish legitimate unions for those professions, in opposition to continuing to operate as factions.
Resistance committees and institutionalization
In September 2021, the resistance committee of Al-Safia neighborhood in the north of Khartoum became the first resistance committee to hold its local elections and endorse its organizational constitution and bylaws. Following that, the hashtag ‘#البناء_القاعدي’ or “building institutional structures,” was trending and became part of most of resistance committees’ statements. It reflected their interest in getting institutionalized to strengthen their legitimacy and ensure they democratically represent their respective constituencies. However, these efforts were halted by the October 2021 coup, and all focus was shifted to resisting the military’s unconstitutional overtake of power.
Up until now, only four resistance committees across Sudan were able to finish their institutionalization process. The journalists’ union election inspired resistance committees to revamp their institutionalization efforts and many of them are currently working on updating their membership records in preparation for local elections. Numerous resistance committees have issued statements celebrating the journalists’ victory, such as the coordination of Bahri committees, which stated that the journalists’ union election “has laid the groundwork for one of our uprising’s core demands, and that is democracy”. Some of the resistance committees across the country currently undergoing this process include the neighborhoods of Al-Tagwa, Al-Shabia, Shambat, Kafouri, and Al-Karanik, and more are expected to follow suit.
Implications of the institutionalization processes
Regardless of how Sudan’s political situation unfolds, the current wave of building democratic institutions across various sectors is a remarkable beacon of hope. In the short term, it strengthens pro-democracy groups and creates institutions that are more effective in resisting the de facto military regime and in engaging in political processes that would pave the way for the transitional period. In the medium-term, these institutions will have stronger capacities to engage in the democratic transition and to participate in key transitional processes like constitution-building and elections. In the long-term, it sets a solid foundation for sustainable democracy, local governance, and decentralization in Sudan.
Hamid Khalafallah is a Nonresident Fellow at TIMEP focusing on inclusive governance and mobilization in Sudan.