Unrest surrounding North Kordofan’s State of Emergency

The political and civil parties and forces in North Kordofan have denounced the local State of Emergency, which was imposed on Monday, and demand its immediate cancellation.

Governor Khaled Mustafa ordered the new State of Emergency “to prevent crimes and other negative phenomena in the state”.

Lawyer Osman Hasan told Radio Dabanga that the order issued by the governor to prevent streets protests is invalid and is not based on any legal article. He stated that “the governor does not have legislative authority. The order issued by him is legislation and is not an administrative decision.”

“The Constitutional Document gives the Sovereign Council and the Council of Ministers the right to legislate in the country and did not give any other party the right to legislate, and based on that the order issued by the governor has no legal basis for it.”

He also explained that the "crimes and negative phenomena" the governor talked about are already accounted for in the Criminal Law, such as the burning of tyres, blocking roads, protesting without a permit, and public disturbance and, therefore, do not require an emergency order.

“It was protest actions that brought down the former regime and enabled the formation of a government and the appointment of civilian governors like Mustafa.”

The Sudanese Congress Party (SCP), leading member of the Forces for Freedom and Change, also rejects the emergency order.

In a statement on Thursday, the North Kordofan branch of the SCP described the governor’s decision as dissonant and reflecting methods of rule associated with the former regime.

The statement emphasised that the governor's decision contradicts the provisions of the Constitutional Document and called on the governor to cancel the order.

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