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2019-05-22 Africa Horn
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Sudan protest group calls for a general strike as talks falter
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Sudan’s main protest group called on Tuesday for a general strike, saying two late-night negotiation sessions with the military had failed to reach a deal on how to lead the country after the overthrow of former president Omar al-Bashir
Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it.
An alliance of protest and opposition organizations is demanding civilians head a new Sovereign Council meant to oversee a three-year transition towards democracy.
But the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) protest group said the army was still insisting on directing the transition and keeping a military majority on the council.
"Civilian power means that the structure is fully civilian with a civilian majority in all its parts," the SPA said in a statement. It said members should mobilize for a strike, without giving a date.
The impasse has hit hopes of a quick recovery from the political turmoil that ended al-Bashir’s three-decade rule on April 11.
Britannia, the United States, and Norway, who are working together on Sudan, urged all parties to quickly end the uncertainty and build consensus, warning against any outcome without a civilian-led government.
"This will complicate international engagement, and make it harder for our countries to work with the new authorities and support Sudan’s economic development," they said in a statement.
Al-Bashir, the former Islamist general under whose rule Sudan was placed on a U.S. list of sponsors of terrorism, was ousted by the army after months of protests against soaring prices, cash shortages and other economic hardships.
The army set up a Transitional Military Council (TMC) to rule the country and promised to hand over after elections.
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Posted by Fred 2019-05-22 00:00||
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