Opposition parties call for President Bashir to stop waging war and step down

The political opposition alliance has rejected the declaration made by President Bashir on Saturday, to mobilise for war and deploy Popular Defence Forces across the country, to fight all those against the Sudanese state. The alliance made up of the Umma party, the Communist Party and the Popular Congress Party said the declaration is not in the interest of the Sudanese people, but for the benefit of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), which has destroyed the social fabric through corruption. The three parties call for all the people of Sudan to stand against Al Bashir’s declaration and not respond to it. Political secretary for the Popular Congress Party, Kamal Omar said to Radio Dabanga that the Sudanese people will not accept a general mobilisation for war. He said he expected Al Bashir to step down in the face of failure of the state’s administration and issue a transitional government, rather than announce a deployment of Popular Defence Forces. Omar called on Sudanese people to topple the ruling NCP and Al Bashir, who has ‘ruined’ the country. Umma leader: ‘declaration is unfortunate’ The Umma Party led by Sadiq Al Mahdi has rejected the president’s mobilisation for war. Speaking to Radio Dabanga, Umma Party leader Mariam Al Mahdi described Al Bashir’s address regarding widespread country mobilisation as ‘unfortunate’, but considered that the stance is not new. She said the NCP insists on the path of declaring war against its own citizens, such as in Blue Nile and South Kordofan, and in the same vein that led to the secession of South Sudan. Al Mahdi said the country is experiencing famine and an economic crisis, which both need to be resolved urgently, rather than turning to more war. She asked, ‘what is the benefit of war, and for whom?’ The Umma Party leader stated that the solution to the Sudan crisis lies in responding to the national agenda. Communist Party: ‘declaration is a continuation of the policy of war’ The Sudanese Communist Party called President Bashir’s address on Saturday ‘a continuation of the polices of war, which led to the conflict in South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur’. Spokesman of the Communist party Yusef Hussein told Radio Dabanga that the Sudan crisis will not be resolved through war, but through responding to the arguments of the opposition, to have a national dialogue and broad government to deal with the country’s crises, caused ‘solely’ by the NCP. Hussein called on the Sudanese people to continue to struggle to revoke ‘the policy of war’ of the NCP, which has destroyed the country.