SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: World Peace Foundation – Hunger in Sudan's Political Marketplace

26/4/2022: World Peace Foundation – Hunger in Sudan's Political Marketplace, by Edward Thomas and Alex de Waal

Researcher Eddie Thomas and World Peace Foundation director Alex de Waal argue that the Sudanese coup regime “picked the path of hunger” by using hunger as a tool of violent repression under the “working assumption that when people are sufficiently destitute and famished, enough of them will submit or collaborate”.

With previous Sudanese regimes neglecting rural food availability at the expense of the wellbeing of urban centres, Thomas and De Waal note how economic deterioration under Omar al-Bashir’s regime contributed to hunger spreading to urban areas – “a big change with unknowable implications”.

Thus, Thomas and De Waal argue, the coup regime picked the “path of hunger” as they knew the human cost of their coup given their inheritance of ultra-austerity and a pre-existing food crisis without the mitigating international assistance.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy – The Charters of Sudan’s Political Landscape

26/4/2022: Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy – The Charters of Sudan’s Political Landscape, by Muzan Alneel

Muzan Alneel, cofounder of the ISTiNAD think-tank, reviewed two Resistance Committee (RC) charters that are shaping the post-coup political landscape - the Revolutionary Charter for People’s Power (RCPP) and the Charter for the Establishment of the People’s Authority (CEPA) – arguing that they have “an incomparably higher chance of bringing stable peace” than UNITAMS’ report that “had largely no impact on public discourses”.

RCPP analysed Sudan’s historic underdevelopment and proposed that grassroots-led government comprising of local councils focuses on national development projects that transform Sudan from rentier economy to industrialised. CEPA is similar but favours a centralised approach to governance, thereby reflecting Sudanese revolutionary debate.

By the contrast, the UNITMAS report “confirmed the disconnect of the international community and its unwillingness to seriously address” Sudan’s political landscape as it offered “superficial and internationally-centred” understanding of Sudan’s economy that neglects how pre-coup IMF-related austerity measures already worsened public economic plight.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga - Strong opposition to Sudan’s proposed security bill

26/4/2021: Radio Dabanga - Strong opposition to Sudan’s proposed security bill

Radio Dabanga report that the draft new Internal Security Agency Bill “proposed by Minister of Justice Nasreddin Abdelbari” provoked angry reactions from across Sudan’s political spectrum.

The Darfur Bar Association said the law violates the Constitutional Document that stipulates the need to limit the powers of the authorities as it provides security forces a judicial authority to arrest and detain in private guards.

The Communist Party of Sudan said that the law poses a threat to public freedoms and represents a step towards dictatorship, accusing the military component of the Sovereignty Council and the Cabinet of seeking to undermine the revolution. 

Abdelbari said the bill was prepared by a limited-membership committee and will be presented to a group of experts on the rule of law, security and democracy, before embarking on the establishment of

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Guardian - ‘Save the revolution’: Sudanese protesters head to Khartoum

26/4/19: Guardian – ‘Save the revolution’: Sudanese protesters head to Khartoum, by Zeinab Mohammed Salih and Peter Beaumont

Zeinab Mohammed Salih and Peter Beaumont's feature piece spoke to protesters travelling into Khartoum to join the sit-in outside the military headquarters, "to protect what they see as their revolution."

 Salih and Beaumont state that those from locations like Atbara, "far from the capital" are closely watching both the military, and the leaders of the new opposition movement, "anxious that their interests are sold out."

 The article highlights the symbolism of "the freedom train that brought activists from Atbara," noting a similar train journey during the 1964 uprising against Sudan's first military dictatorship. Another source of meaning, according to political analyst Faisal Mohamed Salih, is that Al Bashir's regime "destroyed the railway system in Sudan and impoverished the workers.”

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: New York Times - Amid U.S Silence, Gulf Nations Back the Military in Sudan's Revolution

26/4/19: New York Times – Amid U.S Silence, Gulf Nations Back the Military in Sudan’s Revolution, by Declan Walsh

Declan Walsh argues that amid the US President Trump administration's lack of engagement in post-Bashir Sudan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have seized the initiative.

 Walsh notes that while the US State Department has expressed support for civilian rule, the White House is yet to do so, with Payton Knopf, an American diplomat in Sudan during the administration of President George W. Bush, saying that the US would have convened a high-level meeting of like-minded allies to chart a road map to democracy for Sudan, in a previous era. Nonetheless, Walsh notes Sudanese fears that Trump may back the military council.

 Walsh argues that Sudanese suspicions of Saudi Arabia have been "heightened" by the return of ex-Bashir aide Taha Osman Al Hussein, who protesters view as operating on behalf of Saudi Arabia.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: BBC - Sudan's bold challenge to authoritarianism

26/4/19: BBC – Sudan’s bold challenge to authoritarianism, by Fergal Keane

BBC African Editor Fergal Keane argues that events in Sudan have the potential to inspire others in Africa struggling against strongmen to maintain a path of peaceful and inclusive protest.

 Keane argues that Sudanese protesters are "more fortunate" than their Algerian counterparts, citing various military concessions, and that Sudanese military leader Abdulfattah Al Burhan has been "quick to react to opposition initiatives."

 Noting that the Sudanese civilian opposition wants a four-year transitional period to democratic elections, to mitigate the threats of military manipulation, Keane highlights dangers to this approach, which are also relevant to other African civil activists. A transitional civilian government still lacks a popular mandate, which could be an issue in the event of unpopular decisions, violent conflict or protests.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Washington Post - Women of Sudan - 'suppressed by any means’ – are protesting for equal rights in the post-Bashir era

26/4/2019: Washington Post – Women of Sudan – ‘suppressed by any means’ – are protesting for equal rights in the post-Bashir era, by Max Bearak

 Max Bearak’s feature piece covers Sudanese women protesting for equality.

 Mohamed Yusuf Al Mustafa, “the head of the Sudanese Professionals Association,” said he hopes a civilian government will promote women’s equality, and that him and other male protest leaders had discussed increasing women’s representation in Sudan’s parliament from 25 to 40%. However, Tahani Abbas, a lawyer for an organization called No to Women’s Oppression, said “we aim and aspire for 50%.”

 Bearak also spoke to protest leader Halima Ishaq, a refugee from Darfur, and tea-sellers union leader Awadia Koko, from the Nuba Mountains. Ishaq called for the end of laws that limit women, and Koko said “we want all the things of the past to go away.”  Both are also said to “represent a wider struggle for racial and ethnic equality in Sudan.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Sudan's military body denies release of former regime figures

26/4/19: Sudan Tribune – Sudan’s military body denies release of former regime figures

 Sudan Tribune reports that the Transitional Military Council (TMC) Friday denied rumours about the release of some figures of the former regime stressing that investigations are still going on.

 Spokesman for the Transitional Military Council, Lt-Gen Shams Al Din Kabbashi, reacted to reports on social media saying that former Vice-President Osman Youssef Kibir and former Vice-President Hasbo Mohamed Abdel Rahman were released on Friday.

 Kabbashi added that Zubair Ahmed Al Hassan, the head of the Islamic Movement and former finance minister, is under house arrest.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Bloomberg - Sudan Becomes Pawn in Middle East Chess Match

26/4/19: Bloomberg – Sudan Becomes Pawn in Middle East Chess Match

 Hussein Ibish argues that nor the Saudi-Emirati bloc or the Turkey-Qatar bloc are interested in Sudanese democracy, citing their previous competition for the affections of "murderous dictator" Omar Al Bashir, amid their battle for regional influence.

 Ibish writes that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are “seeking to stabilise the situation in Sudan,” because Sudan is “crucial” to Egyptian security and an important ally in Yemen. Ibish notes that critics have said that the Saudi-Emirati support for Sudan’s transitional military council is hostile to democratic change, and “intended to prop up a new autocratic junta.”

 Ibish then argues that Turkey and Qatar's claimed promotion of "revolutionary" change in the Arab world is desired "empower their Islamist Muslim Brotherhood allies" rather than promote democracy.

 Ibish concludes that the Saudis and Emiratis are winning the battle for influence.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Chatham House - Will the Military of the People Lead Sudan?

26/4/19: Chatham House – Will the Military or the People Lead Sudan?

Ahmed Soliman, a researcher for the Africa programme at Chatham House, calls for Sudan's transitional military council (TMC), the Declaration of Freedom and Change (DFC), and the international community to "think beyond short-term power gains," and compromise in the interests of inclusive democracy.

 Soliman argues that co-ordinated support from Sudan's international partners will be critical in addressing the economic crisis and political reformation. However, contrasting Middle-East positions on the Muslim Brotherhood could leave Sudan in a “regional tug-of-war," the African Union's chair (Egypt) supports the military coup despite the AU condemning it, and western diplomats have met with TMC officials, despite the EU not recognising it.

 Arguing that the DFC is yet to establish a leadership structure and policy position, Soliman suggests a four-pronged interim transitional civilian government, which also features a military council with elements of the old regime removed, also warning it against alienating Islamists in opposition.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Associated Press - Islamist preachers in Sudan call for pro-military rally

26/4/19: Associated Press – Islamist preachers in Sudan call for pro-military rally

 Islamists in Sudan long allied with ousted president Omar Al Bashir regime called Friday for a rally to support military-backed Islamic rule in the face of alleged attempts by protesters to abolish it.

 In his Friday sermon, Khartoum-based preacher Abdel-Hay Youssef accused the protest movement of seeking to “dictate their own will on the people.”

 “Did you take to the streets to impose laws that contradict people’s identity and to divorce God’s Shariah (Islamic law) from the government?” he asked rhetorically.

 Youssef rejected the blueprint for transition to civilian rule suggested by protesters and called upon the military to protect the role of Islam in the government.