Economic hardship is joining corruption, war and crackdowns among the
grievances of Sudan's citizens against the ruling regime as political forces
unite for change, writes Asmaa El-Husseini
21 - 27 June 2012
_____
For several days students and citizens took to the streets in Khartoum to
protest hikes in food prices and the high cost of living, as well as the
withdrawal of fuel subsidies that the Khartoum government is expected to
announce soon after it was approved by the ruling National Congress Party
during a Shura Council meeting. This has added new urgency to the problems
that are sweeping across Sudan, and compounds Sudan's economic problems
after it lost three quarters of its revenues when the South seceded one year
ago. Police forces used truncheons and tear gas to push back students who
began their march at Khartoum University, chanting against the high cost of
living while others shouted: "The people demand the fall of the regime."
After excessive force was used to dispel demonstrators, the police evacuated
the university campus and journalists reported that armed groups using
improvised weapons emerged on the scene. Meanwhile, security agencies banned
the publication of three newspapers and took firm security measures against
the media and media personalities. The demonstrations come at a time when
inflation rates have reached unprecedented highs, which government sources
say aim at closing a gap of $2.4 billion, after inflation reached 28.5 per
cent in April and 30.4 per cent in May.
The average Sudanese citizen who ignored calls by the opposition to come out
in mass protests against government policies that caused the secession of
the South and wars in several other areas is now coming out en masse to
protest a dire economic crisis this is making life unbearably difficult,
whether it's the price of a loaf of bread, the cost of transportation or
fulfilling basic needs.
Average citizens do not feel they benefited from oil revenues in the past
and they are now paying a high price, and that the government is not
applying austerity policies on itself and its officials while making that
demand on the citizenry. Spending on security and politics consumes a large
part of the budget and is on the rise because of open-ended wars in Darfur,
South Kordofan and Blue Nile, as well as tensions with South Sudan.
Meanwhile, the government deals with the volatile political situation
through appeasement and inflating the government structure.
In an attempt to ease demonstrations, which were the largest in Khartoum,
Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir told parliament that his government would
adopt austerity measures and other economic actions like nothing Sudan has
seen in 20 years. Bashir decided to reform the government structure by
cutting down more than 100 government positions at the presidency and
legislative bodies, ministries, ministers, state ministers, as well as
consultants to the presidency and cabinet. The restructuring also slashes by
half executive and legislative posts in states across the country.
Bashir said he would work on reducing the benefits of appointees in the
central and branch governments, including salaries and bonuses, and
eliminating the salaries and benefits of local legislative representatives,
as well as reducing and rationing public spending and reviewing budgets and
spending priorities. Along with the gradual withdrawal of fuel subsidies,
Bashir decided to stop the construction of any new government buildings,
regulating the procurement and contracting process for government purchases,
as well as improving regulation of tariff exemptions, while continuing the
liquidation and privatisation of state-owned companies. At the same time,
all state institutions will be subjected to a national audit. He directed
the Ministry of Justice to quickly rule on crimes relating to public funds
and warned against smuggling commodities to South Sudan.
Bashir attributed the deterioration in the economy to events in Heglig and
what he described as a continued attack on the country's peripheries, saying
that this added an extra burden that compounded the problem and weakened the
country's overall economy. Bashir promised that the government would buffer
the effects of high fuel prices for citizens through new tax exemptions on
imports of basic foods such as wheat, flour and sugar.
Although Bashir's party always viewed the opposition as weak and challenged
them to mobilise the people on the street, it may feel differently now. The
opposition alliance called on the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
(DUP) Mohamed Othman Al-Mirghani to withdraw from the government so that his
party can participate in "the honour of toppling the regime". A DUP
spokesman said that withdrawing is "a national duty", while the chairman of
the General Body for the Forces of National Consensus, Farouk Abu Eissa,
urged the DUP to withdraw "today, not tomorrow" from the coalition
government.
The alliance also made a direct call to Al-Mirghani to "effectively
participate, before the deluge, in liberating the country and achieving
national sovereignty." Eissa said: "The unionist movement must be part of
the honour of toppling the regime. We have high hopes that the DUP, which
has always played a honourable role in politics, will respond quickly to our
call, in light of the NCP's floundering policies̉ê¦ that emerged at the
party's last Shura Council meeting."
Meanwhile, the Sudan Revolutionary Front reiterated its call to all the
people of Sudan to take to the streets to demand the removal of the regime
and achieve peace, stability, development, security and prosperity in the
country. It also urged support for demonstrations, strikes and civil
disobedience to pressure the regime to stop existing wars and suffering, and
begin change and to construct a country of co-citizenship. The movement
Change Now stated that the past few days were the bloodiest in Sudan's
political history as demonstrations are confronted by unprecedented violence
by anti-riot police and civilian militias that are believed to be affiliated
to security and national intelligence agencies. The movement called for an
immediate end to violence against protesters who are exercising their
legitimate right of freedom of expression in support of peaceful change.
NGOs and various media urged that all crimes against the people of Sudan
should be documented.
The Sudan Congress Party believes that the government will continue to
pursue policies that will fragment Sudan and humiliate its people. The South
seceded and the government claimed this was a victory and said that once
Sudan is rid of the burden of the South it would be safe, stable and
prosperous. The opposite happened. War broke out once again and killed
hundreds of innocent people while everyday life became impossible for many.
The Sudan Congress Party called on the armed forces and police to side with
the people and protect them from the regime's militias.
Al-Tayeb Zein Al-Abideen, a Sudanese thinker, believes that unequal
distribution of national wealth is the main reason behind the revolts
against the government on the periphery in the South, Darfur, Blue Niles,
South Kordofan and East Sudan. Zein Al-Abideen listed several areas that
should be reformed to improve the tattered economy, including combating
corruption that has spread to all government bodies and is not addressed
even when there is clear evidence; excessive political spending; sagging
legislative and executive institutions; not privatising public sector
companies despite the declared policy, which is a source of corruption and
mismanagement; the absence of transparency in government financial
transactions; and unequal wages in the civil services.
"The government must correctly read some indicators reported by its loyalist
members from the Islamic movement and the ruling party before it's too
late," Zein Al-Abideen said. "Testimonials of protest and discontent from
key members of the Islamic movement have been published, and parliament is
even more critical of the government than the opposition."
Meanwhile, officials are resigning their posts in cabinet ministries and
ministers unveiling the corruption of their predecessors. And there is
hardly anyone left among the public who will defend the government's
policies.
Bashir's declarations and decisions have yet to be applied to senior
officials. Also pending is genuine conciliation that guarantees a transition
to democracy and avoidance of political and military conflict across Sudan.
Without implementation, no one can guarantee that discontent will not spread
among citizens and peak like in other Arab countries. Economic hardships are
linked to many political, social and cultural problems across Sudan and are
further aggravated by the government's security crackdown at a time when all
active forces in Sudan are now seeking genuine change.
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Received on Thu Jun 21 2012 - 17:27:47 EDT
