Sudan opposition head: ‘Al Bashir’s speech proof of a failing regime’

The head of the opposition Sudanese Congress Party, Omar El Degeir, says that the ruling regime is incapable of addressing the comprehensive crisis facing the country, and accuses it of “continuing the method of prevarication and escape”.

Reacting to President Omar Al Bashir’s speech before Parliament on Monday, El Degeir said “if any opponent of the current regime wants to show how the regime is failing, he will need no more than the president’s speech before the parliament”.

In his speech, Al Bashir acknowledged that the economic demands that demonstrators have been making for the past months are “legitimate”, and renewed the call to the opposition both in and outside Sudan to take part in the peace process.

El Degeir explained that Al Bashir’s speech did not address the current crisis and its consequences: “The government will not form commissions of inquiry into the circumstances of the killing of dozens of people during the demonstrations, while Al Bashir expressed respect for human rights, yet ignored the many prisoners of conscience held in the cells of the security apparatus. He called for national dialogue, while the sword of the State of Emergency is curtailing freedom of opinion, expression, and all fundamental freedoms.”

El Degeir said the regime has no solutions to the current crisis. He stressed that “the Sudanese have no choice but to continue their peaceful revolutionary movement in order to fulfil their demand for the regime’s removal in favour of a transitional authority that represents their will, and leads the nation to cross the quagmire of crises with a collective mind and banners of peace, democracy, justice, economic advancement, and all the conditions of a decent life”.

El Degeir called on all Sudanese people to take part in the marches of April 4 and 6 “to bury the promises of the regime and emphasise that the solution of the crises of the homeland begins with the removal of the regime”.

Popular Congress Party

Kamal Omar, MP and chairman of the Popular Congress Party that was part of the government until Al Bashir announced the State of Emergency on February 22, described the president’s speech as “miserable and failed and redundant, that does not address the pressing issues on the streets of Sudan”.

Kamal Omar, chairman of the Popular Congress Party
(File photo)

Omar said that after the declaration of the State of Emergency, the government did not provide any solution to the crisis at a time when the authorities stormed the houses of citizens, prosecuted protesters under emergency orders, and the regime does not accept opinion and confiscates freedoms.

Forces for Change

Abulgasim Burtom, head of the Forces for Change – a coalition of rightist opposition parties –  said the speech did not come with anything new.

He demanded more seriousness to achieve the President’s declaration on standing on one area of all, as well as identifying a clear mechanism to combat corruption and work on the reform of the state and strengthen the civil service.