Sudan Parliament suspended for ‘full mobilisation’ – Opposition speaks out

Sudan’s National Assembly has suspended its sessions next week “to enable lawmakers to head to their constituencies and lead a mobilisation campaign in support of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF)”.The opposition has interpreted this as the latest salvo from the Khartoum government in its ongoing battle with rebel groups. The rebels have stepped up their military activities over recent months, and claimed to have inflicted “heavy losses” on government forces.The Speaker of the National Assembly, Ahmed Ibrahim Al Tahir, on Thursday directed MPs to “go to their states and meet with the local governments in order to mobilise youth to support the SAF”.Opposition MP Dr. Ismail Hussein who represents the Popular Congress Party (PCP) has spoken out strongly, calling the move “pouring oil in fire, useless, futile, and beating the drums of war”.In an interview with Radio Dabanga, Dr Hussein said that the conflict in Sudan cannot be solved with weapons and military means or harassment and arrests, but rather with the judicious treatment of political issues in a wise, inclusive political dialogue.This must be without excluding anyone and adhering to what is reached through dialogue. “Particularly the government has to stick to the agreements,” Dr Hussein stressed.He demanded that the security forces, headed by Ministers of Defence and the Interior, submit their resignations because they have failed. Dr Hussein described the occurrences in North and South Kordofan as “a political scandal”, adding that Ministers reported to Parliament stating that security was stable in all states.“Yet, after a few days, the SRF attacked in North Kordofan,” he said. “The National Assembly can’t hold Ministers accountable, because the parliament has become an organ of the ruling NCP to rubber stamp the resolutions of the executive body.”Cheap propagandaThe SRF termed the announcement “cheap propaganda to fight against the SRF”. Abu Al Qasim Imam El Haj, SRF spokesman said that the move is more likely to backfire on the regime. El Haj told Radio Dabanga that trying to order mobilization against the SRF via the parliament “will not add any value to the regime because the Sudanese people will not pay attention to it”.El Haj urged the population not to support the regime’s cause. “The SAF will lose and the regime is about to collapse,” he said. “Those SAF losses in the field will be the very agent of the regime’s fall.”He confirmed that his movement will continue to fight the system and urged the people to stand behind the SRF, which has “become the dream and hope for the people – the means to destabilise the regime and bring stability and security to our country”.El Haj cautioned that “the SRF will soon be engaging the government forces in Khartoum” and warned the government “not to use civilians as human shields or to entice them to destroy the SRF”.El Haj dismissed allegations by Dr Nafie Ali Nafie, Adviser to the Sudanese President, of fifth column activity, calling them “dissemination of rumours in order to arrest all opposition leaders in Sudan.”Nafie recently accused the “fifth column and opposition parties of provoking a demoralization war and instigating rumours denoting the death of the regime”.He suggested that “the morale of SRF leaders collapsed following the injury of SRF leader Al Hilu; which stalled the advance of their battle; a battle which was meant to achieve a media blast at the expense of innocent civilians.”“Opposition leaders have the constitutional right to raise their opinions against the regime,” El Haj said. “The opposition aims to restore the regime though peaceful and democratic means. This is legal.” El Haj warned the government and security forces not to arrest the opposition leaders.SPLM-N arrestsThe Office of the President of the People in South Kordofan have arrested many SPLM-N members in Umm Rawaba, El Rahad, Asimuh and Allah Karim in North and South Kordofan.All of them were transferred to El Obeid prison in North Kordofan after questioning in Umm Rawaba and El Rahad.The list of detainees: Adam Mahdi Mohamed, youth president in North Kordofan; Khalifa Abou Taor, former secretary of Shikan locality in North Kordofan; Mubarak Ramadan, head of Umm Rawaba locality; Ismail Tiya, organizational secretary of Umm Rawaba locality; Ahlam Duud, media secretary in Umm Rawaba locality; Abdul Rahman, SPLM-N member in Umm Rawaba locality; Dafa’al Abdul, member of Umm Rawaba locality; and Santino Garang, member of Umm Rawaba locality.On Tuesday, SPLM-N condemned the arrest of approximately 60 prominent dignitaries by Sudanese security services, as reported by Radio Dabanga.File photo: Parliament building in KhartoumRelated:Sudan: conflicting casualty reports in South Kordofan battle (8 May 2013)Arrest of 60 Sudanese dignitaries condemned: SPLM-N (6 May 2013)