Anti-junta demos halted by tear gas as strikers’ demands still not met in Sudan
Poster calls on Sudanese to join the January 24 Marches of the Millions under the slogan: Stop the starvation policies (Sudanese Tweeps Forum)
KHARTOUM –
Members of resistance committees in Khartoum organised demonstrations at the Republican Palace to protest against the “starvation policies” of the acting government and “demand the overthrow of the putschists” yesterday, as strikes continue across Sudan.
The protesters began the march at the Jackson and Stadium bus stations, passed through the Soug El Arabi market, and ended at the Republican Palace. The security forces disrupted the demonstrators on their way to the palace by firing tear gas.
The Revolutionary Charter for Establishing People’s Power, which regulates the work of the resistance committees, is reportedly ready to be signed in its final form.
On the same day, The Angry Ones activist group organised a march to the halls of the 40th Khartoum International Fair in Burri to protest against Sudan’s economic policies, which have been under fierce fire by economists lately. The fair began yesterday and will run until January 31.
According to Economic analyst Kamal Karrar, the leaked draft of Sudan’s 2023 national budget includes a significant increase in military and security spending and a significant decrease in the budgets for education, health, development, and services.
In an interview with Radio Dabanga last week, professor of economics at El Nilein University Hasan Bashir referred to UN reports that a third of the Sudanese population will need humanitarian assistance in 2023, estimated at $2 billion.
Weather station strike
The strike of the employees of the Meteorological Corporation in Sudan is continuing for the second week as no agreement with the management has been reached.
Kamaleldin Ibrahim, member of the Meteorological Media Committee, told Radio Dabanga on Sunday that they will continue with the strike until their demands are met.
The staff members demand a salary raise, improved working conditions, and the dismissal of the corporation’s director general.
Since the strike began on January 15, all airports in the country have not had access to weather information. Ibrahim said that “members of the administrative departments are now trying to fill the void caused by the strike, doing their work without regard for the risks” of not having accurate weather information.
“All airports and meteorological stations in the country are in complete paralysis” because of the strike, he said.
Teachers strike
The Sudanese Teachers Committee, the head of the Sudanese branch of the El Gadiriya Sufi sect, Sheikh El Riyeh Azrag Teiba, and a number of politicians held a joint meeting on Sunday to discuss the teachers’ strike in the country.
The Teachers Committee said in a statement that the meeting “came at the generous invitation of the Sudanese El Gadiriya branch with the aim of identifying problems with education and teachers’ rights.”
The teachers explained that they will stop striking as soon as their demands are met. They decided to stage protest actions after the authorities failed to react to the memorandum they submitted on October 16.
The Sufi sheikh expressed his hope for “a solution that satisfies all parties as soon as possible.”
The three-week-long strike by schoolteachers in Sudan was originally set to end on January 29. More than 16,000 schools in Sudan are participating in the strike, which also took place throughout much of December with previous industrial action in November as well.
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