SUDAN: Who's who in the opposition
KHARTOUM, 26 July 2012 (IRIN) - Recent weeks have seen demonstrators, for
the most part students, take to the streets of Khartoum - and to a lesser
extent other Sudanese cities - to protest against the rising cost of living
and call for an end to the 23-year rule of President Omar al-Bashir.
Meanwhile, armed rebellions have been active in the western region of Darfur
for almost a decade and
<
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/93052/SUDAN-Southern-Kordofan-briefing>
broke out in the southern border state of South Kordofan in June 2011 and
later in nearby Blue Nile State.
Sudan is in the throes of an economic crisis sparked by the July 2011
secession of South Sudan, which, when it was part of Sudan, produced
three-quarters of the oil that almost solely drove the country's economy. In
June 2012, inflation was running at 37 percent. The government is faced with
a budget deficit of US$2.4 billion.
While backed by the International Monetary Fund, Khartoum's austerity
measures, such as cutting fuel subsidies and government jobs, devaluing the
currency and raising taxes have sparked a series of modest yet growing
protests (with their own Twitter hashtag, #sudanrevolts), which in turn have
prompted a robust response from security services.
Bashir has derided the demonstrators as "elbow-lickers", an allusion to the
supposed futility of their protests.
"They talk of an Arab Spring - let me tell them that in Sudan we have a hot
summer, a burning hot summer that burns its enemies," the president declared
in mid-July.
Here is a brief overview of anti-government forces which, despite some
alliances, lack strong cohesion or coordination among their various
elements:
URBAN PROTEST MOVEMENTS
<
http://www.girifna.com/about> Girifna Movement (GM) A popular resistance
movement formed in October 2009 by university students, GM works for
peaceful change in Sudan. Girifna means "we are fed up".
GM asks questions like: "Aren't you fed up with the monopoly over political
power by them?" "Aren't you fed up with the high cost of living?" "Aren't
you fed up with the electricity and water shortages?" "Aren't you fed up
with what's happening in Darfur?" Girifna uses street demonstrations, Radio
Girifna, an online magazine, public speeches and newsletters, etc. to get
its message across.
Girifna says its members have been beaten, abducted, and imprisoned by state
security forces.
Sudan Change Now (SCN) SCN was established in 2010 by young activists
working for peaceful democratic change. It is a youth movement which gets
its message across using internet-based social media.
SCN's Facebook page says: "We believe that the current regime in Sudan is
completely dysfunctional and it is our collective responsibility as Sudanese
to put an end to it. Change is our way towards the better future that our
nation deserves."
"We are working on creating a common front of solidarity that brings
together all those who are suffering from the actions of the current corrupt
and evil regime. Together we work to ensure a unified and effective course
of action to overthrow the regime and build a new brighter future for our
coming generations."
ARMED MOVEMENTS
Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) alliance Led by SPLM-N (see below) chairman
Malik Aggar, SRF is a coalition of rebel groups in Darfur, South Kordofan,
Blue Nile and eastern Sudan formed in November 2011. SRF leaders say they
want to overthrow the NCP regime "using all available means" and establish a
secular, liberal state.
In a press statement on 12 July 2012 SRF said it supported the urban
protests against the government. It said support by the National Consensus
Forces (see below) for the Sudanese people's "revolt" was a step in the
right direction. It called on all political opposition forces to hold an
expanded meeting on how to create a joint work programme, agree on a
national democratic programme, and work together to bring down the regime.
SRF includes SPMN-N, JEM, SLA-AW, SLA-MM and the Beja Congress.
Sudan People's Liberation Movement - Northern Sector (SPLM-N) This was
initially the northern wing of the politico-military group which led the
southern rebellion during the 1983-2005 civil war and which is now in power
in the newly independent state of South Sudan.
Khartoum has frequently dismissed the SPLM-N's insistence that it has
operated as an independent entity since secession in July 2011, saying that
its armed
<
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/95128/SUDAN-Food-crisis-looms-as-bombs-drive
-farmers-from-their-fields> rebellion in Blue Nile and South Kordofan is
controlled from Juba.
Regime change is a key policy tenet of the SPLM-N, whose political
activities the government has banned since late 2011.
Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) JEM is a rebel group involved in the
Darfur conflict founded by Khalil Ibrahim, who was killed by the Sudanese
Armed Forces in December 2011. Currently JEM is led by Khalil's brother,
Jibril Ibrahim, whose succession has agitated simmering fault lines, largely
along ethnic lines involving non-Zaghawa, Missiriya Arabs, and some Zaghawa
previously aligned with the Sudan Liberation Army - Minni Minnawi faction
(SLA-MM).
The diaspora-based Democratic JEM (DJEM) is a splinter group launched by
predominantly non-Zaghawa dissidents in April 2006, in rejection of JEM's
domination by the Kobe, a Zaghawa sub-group. JEM was established in early
2003 by a group of educated, politically experienced Darfuris, and drew most
of its initial leadership and members from the Kobe, who are more numerous
in Chad than in Darfur.
While JEM is considered the strongest armed rebel group in western Sudan it
continues to lack a wider constituency among Darfuris.
The JEM Corrective Leadership (JEM CL) under Zakaria Musa, is a new
breakaway movement that emerged in mid-January 2012 following Khalil
Ibrahim's death.
Sudan Liberation Army-Abdul Wahid faction (SLA-AW) SLA-AW is a Darfur rebel
group emerged from the split of the Sudan Liberation Army into numerous
factions.
The original SLA was formed in 2001 as an alliance between Fur and Zaghawa
ethnic groups with differing goals: the Fur envisaged their rebellion as
being essentially anti-government, in favour of a new, decentralized Sudan,
while the Zaghawa's focused more on Arab militias with whom they were in
economic competition in North Darfur.
Abdul Wahid Mohammed al-Nur, SLA's original chairman, has spent most of the
period since the Darfur rebellion started in 2003 outside the region, first
in Paris and more recently in Uganda. This absence has led to dissent and
divisions within his movement.
SLA-AW, the Fur-led faction, has not signed the 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement
and has not taken part in any peace talks.
Sudan Liberation Army - Minni Minnawi faction (SLA-MM) A former teacher with
little prior military experience, Minawi led SLA's main forces before the
group split. In 2006 he signed the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) with
Khartoum and gained the largely nominal positions of - until April 2010 -
senior assistant to Bashir, and chairman of the Transitional Darfur Regional
Authority.
In late 2010 Minawi moved to Juba, capital of what is now South Sudan, and
disowned the DPA, leading the Sudanese army to declare his faction a
legitimate target. This unleashed a new wave of violence in SLA-MM areas.
Minawi's move also divided the faction into: a group which continued
discussions with Khartoum, another in North Darfur negotiating with JEM and
a third which remained loyal to Minawi himself.
The formation of the SRF led to some rapprochement between the two SLA
factions.
POLITICAL PARTIES
Several Sudanese opposition parties are grouped under the banner of the
National Consensus Forces, originally formed to stand against the ruling
National Congress Party in elections held in April 2010.
Some of these - the National Umma Party, the Communist Party and the Popular
Congress Party - signed a Democratic Alternative Charter (DAC) on 4 July
2012, thereby committing themselves to remove the NCP from power through
"peaceful means" and the creation of a "civil democratic state".
The NCF includes:
The National Umma Party (NUP):
President: Al Saddig Al-Mahdi
Secretary-General: Ibrahim al-Amin
Prominent member: Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi
NUP's origins go back to the 19th century. Its current president was the
prime minister of Sudan on two occasions (1966-67), and (1986-89).
Website:
http://www.umma.org/umma/en/page.php?page_id=1
Popular Congress Party (PCP):
President: Hassan Al-Turabi
PCP split from the ruling National Congress Party in 2000. It describes
itself as "a broad national democratic party" not based upon regionalism or
sectarianism. PCP publishes its own newspaper, Rai al-Shaab, currently
banned by the National Intelligence Security Services.
PCP website:
http://www.popularcongress.org/pages.php?hl=about
Sudanese Communist Party (SCP):
Secretary-general: Mohamed Mukhtar Al-Khateeb
SCP is one of the oldest parties in Sudan. It advocates socialism in a
multi-party system.
SCP website:
http://www.midan.net/
Other DAC signatories:
Nasirist Democratic Unionist Party (NDUP): supports Arab nationalism; has a
close affinity with Egypt; led by Gamal Abdunnasir Idris.
The Unified Democratic Unionist Party - led by Jala'a Ismail Al-azhari
New Forces Democratic Movement (HAG) - led by Halal Abdulhaleem
Sudan Ba'ath Party - led by Mohamed Ali Jadain
The Arabic Baath Social Party - Originally led by Ali Elraih El Sanhoory
Sudanese Congress Party - led by Ibrahim Elshiekh
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Received on Thu Jul 26 2012 - 17:14:27 EDT
