SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - UN envoy for Sudan meets transitional council

9/5/19: Sudan Tribune – UN envoy for Sudan meets transitional council

 Sudan Tribune reports that Shams Al Din Kabbashi, spokesperson of the Transitional Military Council (TMC) and a member of its Political Committee Wednesday met with the UN Special Adviser on Sudan, Nicholas Haysom.

 UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently appointed Haysom as Special Adviser on Sudan to support the efforts of the African Union to reach a successful, power transfer to civilians after the military takeover in the east African country.

 Speaking after the meeting, Haysom said that the meeting dealt with the current political situation in Sudan and ways to move to a democratic regime.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Sudanese politicians brawled at meeting with military council

9/5/19: Sudan Tribune – Sudanese politicians brawled at meeting with military council

 Sudan Tribune reports that politicians brawled at a meeting with the transitional military council, which had asked all political forces to present their views on the transition period.

 According to some politicians who attended the meeting, the atmosphere was characterized by intense tension, after some participants objected to to the presence of personalities known for their support to the ex-ruling National Congress Party, some of which led campaigns for Omar Al Bashir to be re-elected in 2020.

Ammar Mohammed Adam, an independent Islamist and one of the attendees said that some participants chanted slogans against the Council and called for civil authority, forcing the military council members to shorten their interventions and leave the place.

 Video footage that was widely circulated showed that some of the participants had been kicked out of their seats, and hand-to-hand clashes occurred.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Guardian - Where is our money?: Sudan's currency crisis deepens

9/5/19: Guardian- ‘Where is our money?’: Sudan’s currency crisis deepens, by Peter Beaumont and Zeinab Mohammed Salih

 Peter Beaumont and Zeinab Salih report on the banking crisis currently affecting Sudan, saying that “confidence in the banking system has been eroded.”

Beaumont and Salih suggest that chronic mismanagement on the part of the former regime is to blame for the ongoing banking crisis. The writers also suggest that issues such as the 2011 secession of South Sudan and the subsequent loss of oil revenues are major factors which fuelled the crisis. Beaumont and Salih also note that in recent times, inflation was triggered after the central bank decided to devalue the pound by roughly 40% and that the consequent rising inflation was one of the key factors which helped oust former president Omer al Bashir.

Beaumont and Salih hint that the economic crisis has not yet fully played out and that dire consequences may be expected as the crisis continues to unfold.

SUDAN TRANSLATED INSIGHT ALERT: Asharq Al-Awsat - Mohammed Nagi Al-Asam: 'We have not reached a deadlock with the military council'

9/5/19: Asharq Alawsat- Al-Asam: ‘We have not reached a deadlock/ dead end with the military council’, by Aidrous Abdulaziz and Ahmed Yones

In an interview with Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, Mohamed Nagi Al-Asam, a prominent member of the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), stressed that the SPA will continue to push for their demands to be met by the TMC through peaceful means such as political strikes or civil disobedience.

Al Asam suggests that the TMC is trying to extend the transitionary phase as much as possible so that it can increase its power and influence, citing the various executive decisions the TMC has made since holding power.

Moreover, he suggests that the Bashir regime is yet to be completely uprooted and that the TMC is but a continued legacy of it

Al Asam goes on to expresses admiration for the role that the youth have played in the revolution and expresses hope that negotiations with TMC will lead to something.