Protests across Sudan to expedite change

On Thursday, Khartoum, Wad Madani, El Gedaref, Kassala, Port Sudan, Ed Damazin, El Roseires, Atbara, and Dongola witnessed mass rallies demanding the appointment of governors and the completion of civilian authority structures in the country

In Khartoum, the rally moved from the  Jackson bus station towards the offices of the Council of Ministers where the protesters raised banners calling for a speedy appointment of civilian state governors and the Legislative Council. Others raised banners against the calls to appoint state governors and the legislative council, demanding that they wait until a final peace agreement is signed.

Some resistance committees in the capital, including those of Burri, Abrof, Wadnubawi, El Abbasiya South, and El Galala declined to participate in the rally, considering the move unjustified since “the government has not closed the doors” to hear their views.

The memorandum presented to the Cabinet was read by Ismail El Taj, a leading member of the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), calling for appointing civilian governors and their governments and setting a timetable for forming the Legislative Council, as well as putting an end to the parallel economy, including the companies affiliated with the regular forces.

The memorandum demanded that the supervision of the Bank of Sudan and the Communications Authority belong to the Cabinet.

Mohamed Ismat, a leading member of the Unionist Alliance, announced his categorical rejection of “the militarisation of the Central Bank of Sudan”, calling for supervision by the Cabinet in preparation for its autonomy.

He also called for appointing a board of directors for the bank in order to fulfil its duty to supervise the banking sector and warned the military component against manipulating the policies of the Bank of Sudan.

Hamdok

The official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) confirms that Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok received the SPA memorandum yesterday. He affirmed the necessity for the unity of the revolution forces with all its components to overcome the challenges of the transitional period.

The SPA representative, Ismail El Taj outlined that the memo included the revolutionaries’ urgent demands, top of which, the completion of the structures of the transitional authority by speeding up the appointment of the civil governors and their governments, the formation of the Legislative Council, in addition to the issues related to the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank.

El Taj pointed out that “the revolution is the revolution of the Sudanese people and the government is the government of the revolution,” expressing the SPA support for the government until it overcomes all the obstacles.

He said the Prime Minister assured all the demands included in the memo.

Kush Liberation Movement

Mohamed Daoud, leading member of the Kush Liberation Movement, ridiculed yesterday’s demonstrations, expressing his surprise at the Forces for Freedom and Change attempting to put pressure on the government that it had formed.

At a press conference yesterday, Daoud confirmed that the movement’s negotiating delegation in Juba consisted of seven members of the Kush movement and three victims of the Merowe Dams.

He deplored the talk about how to negotiate with an unarmed movement, explaining that “the Kush Movement was established to spare the region the evils of armed action in which it has succeeded”.

Daoud said that during the Juba negotiations, the Kush Movement managed to cancel Resolution 206 regarding the confiscation of lands in the North and prevent the use of mercury and cyanide in extracting gold, as well as the formation of a committee to cancel the dams on the Nile, the voluntary return of the residents of Halfa to their original villages and creating conditions and building the necessary infrastructure and services for them, this is in addition to teaching the Nubian language as an optional subject at the basic stage.

He said that the Juba Agreement included the formation of a committee by the Public Prosecutor to investigate the events of Kajbar and Manasir regions, the formation of a committee on the burning of Nubian palms in Northern Sudan, which is estimated at 800,000 palm trees, as well as an investigation about the existence of cemeteries of atomic and electronic waste in Sudan, searching for the parties involved and called on the anti-government committees to participate in the joint committees to cancel the dams.