Al Bashir speech disappoints Sudanese

President Omar Al Bashir on Monday evening delivered a long-awaited speech in the Friendship Hall in Khartoum. All opposition parties were invited to attend. It was generally expected that the President would announce major reforms, but the speech was received as “more than disappointing”. The President’s speech, announced by the National Congress Party (NCP) over the last week, was expected to include major reform plans and far-reaching ramifications in the financial and economic fields. Al Bashir said that the NCP will take the lead to prepare the Sudanese for “national reconciliation” and expressed readiness for dialogue with the opposition, including rebel groups. He announced the establishment of an economic planning agency as part of the Finance Ministry, strengthening the role of the Central Bank. He also announced the formation of a national council for revenues, and revising the formula for splitting federal resources. The speech was met with sarcasm and sharp criticism by Sudanese, both in the country and abroad, the opposition forces, armed rebel movements, and the displaced in Darfur. Social media and Sudanese websites reacted with pungent comments, caricatures, and jokes ridiculing Al Bashir’s “empty speech” and its “incomprehensible contents”. The displaced in Darfur commented that the speech did not carry “anything new”. “Al Bashir omitted the concerns of more than two million displaced Darfuris, the killings, rapes, pillaging, and bombardments.” The coordinator of the Central Darfur camps told Radio Dabanga that “according to this speech, Al Bashir will continue his policy of systematic siege and starvation in Darfur, South Kordofan and the Blue Nile. It would have been a great surprise if the President had recognised the injustice and crimes committed against the people of Sudan in general and in Darfur in particular.” ‘Another world’ Yasir Arman, Secretary-General of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North and Foreign Relations Secretary of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) called it “very unfortunate that the speech was announced in such a way that the people expected major plans to resolve the conflicts in Sudan. But Al Bashir spoke as if he came from another world”. Arman, in an interview with Radio Dabanga, said that it was expected that the President would announce concrete proposals, like for instance a cease-fire in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile to allow the delivery of aid to the people in these areas, or a transitional governing period in cooperation with all political forces. “What happened yesterday is a deceptive attempt to gain time. The speech confirmed that he is unwilling to change.” In return, Arman called on the Sudanese to stand up and topple the regime in a peaceful uprising. The SRF, he noted, do not advocate war. “We accept a peaceful solution that realises a new transitional period, leading to a constitutional conference addressing issues of citizenship without discrimination. We need a broad discussion on how to govern Sudan before we discuss who will govern Sudan.” Minni Minawi, leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement-MM and SRF Co-Vice President, described Al Bashir’s speech as “very frustrating for the Sudanese people”. Minawi told Radio Dabanga that though the President frequently mentioned peace, but did not mention how this peace could be achieved. Minawi ridiculed Al Bashir’s “talk about dialogue”, because “he himself refuses any dialogue”. The rebel leader stressed that the solution for war-torn Sudan would be a “comprehensive initiative by the President, starting with the formation of a transitional government, which would lead to a new constitution and lasting democracy”. ‘Incomprehensible’ Dr Jibril Ibrahim, head of the Justice and Equality Movement and SRF Co-Vice President the Vice described to Radio Dabanga the President’s speech as ‘constructed’. “The speech came in a different language to what we are used to hear from the President. It was an incomprehensible language.” Ibrahim assumed that the President was forced to change his speech at the last minute. He stressed that this speech has given the opposition forces more than sufficient arguments to topple the regime. Speaking to Radio Dabanga, Abdel Wahid El Nur, leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement-AW and SRF Co-Vice President, commented that the speech proved once again that there will be no peace nor hope in Sudan “if Al Bashir and his National Congress Party remain in power”.File photo: SRF leaders visiting the office of Radio Dabanga (from L to R): Ali Terayo, Humanitarian Affairs Officer, El Tom Hajo, Co-Vice President, Dr Jibril Ibrahim, Co-Vice President, Abdel Wahid El Nur, Co-Vice President, Minni Minawi, Co-Vice President, and Yasir Arman, Foreign Relations Secretary