West Kordofan strikers to boycott Sudan elections

Participants of the long-lasting strike in Lagawa town, West Kordofan, have threatened to boycott the upcoming Sudanese elections if the government does not respond to their demands.

A number of youth made this statement to El Jareeda newspaper on Thursday. They demanded the locality to stop the deposit of collected money into the locality's treasury, for administrative purposes. Their claim is that the people's money, collected via Form 15 for domestic revenue, disappears into the pockets of the locality, instead of the maintenance of the hospital, among others.

The improvement of vital basic services, including electricity, water, roads, hospitals, and education, is the main motivation of the sit-in that has lasted 61 days. Farmers have joined the strike at the sit-in tent, the statement read.

The youth representatives threatened to engage in civil disobedience if the government does not respond. “We will resort to plan B if the government maintains its position of refusing to respond.” They added that 35 villages in the area of Lagawa will also boycott the national collections.

The issue in West Kordofan has been raised to the ruling centre, a demonstrator explained last week. “The state of West Kordofan has failed to solve our problem.”