SPLM-N calls on Al Bashir to resign

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) has demanded regional and international governments and institutions to stand by the Sudanese people in their efforts for a better life, and support the ousting of President Omar Al Bashir. According to a prominent Islamic leader, Khartoum has lost its political legitimacy.

In a statement on Friday, the SPLM-N reiterated its decision to stop negotiating any issue with the current government, except for the humanitarian situation in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

The rebel movement called for urgent consultations between the opposition alliances, including the armed movements, civil society forces, and the youth activists who called for a civil strike last week, to agree on one demand to address the world about stepping down of President Al Bashir.

The rebel movement said it would raise its demand for the ouster of President Omar Al Bashir to the African Union, the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the European Union, the United States, and the UN Security Council “as the sole demand of the Sudanese people”.

“For 27 years, this regime inflicted hell upon the Sudanese. They underestimated them and disregarded their dignity.”

The resigning president should also agree on a transitional government that should prepare for free and fair elections, the statement reads.

Memorandum

The SPLM-N statement comes after the partial success of a three-day civil disobedience action last week, called for by young activists on the social media. During the civil strike, from 27 to 29 November, the streets of Khartoum remained quiet as many shops kept their doors closed and residents stayed at home in protest against the far reaching austerity measures taken by the recent government policies last month.

On Wednesday, more than 20 political parties, civil society organisations, and individuals signed a memorandum in which they demanded Al Bashir to step down and hand the power to the people. Officials at the Presidential Palace in Khartoum however, refused to receive the memo, presented by leaders of the National Consensus Forces (NCF, a coalition of leftist political parties) and the Civil Society Initiative, and a number of public figures.

“The government has lost its political legitimacy by dividing the country and itself.”

‘Political legitimacy’

According to prominent Islamic leader El Mahboub Abdelsalam, “The government has lost its political legitimacy by dividing the country and itself”.

In an interview with the Sudanese daily Alwan published on Friday, he holds “the Islamists” [the Sudanese government] responsible for the crises in the country.

“In order for the Islamists not to reproduce their old programmes, they need a new spirit from a new generation that understands the contemporary challenges, and is able to adapt the significant insights that developed within the Islamic and Quranic study fields in the past decade.”

The chairman of the Sudanese National Coalition Party, Abdelaziz Khalid, told Radio Dabanga that “For 27 years, this regime inflicted hell upon the Sudanese. They underestimated them and disregarded their dignity.

“The ruling National Congress Party’s disastrous policies have left the Sudanese people without food, medicines, stability, or peace,” he stated.