Concern of return to 'Islamist dominance' in Sudan

The recent rapprochement between Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir and the leader of the opposing Popular Congress Party Hassan Al-Turabi has raised the opposition’s concern over the possibility of the return of the Islamic trend, represented by both parties, to power, as was the case during the first 10 years of Al-Bashir’s reign, also causing concern about the deepening of the country’s isolation.

The ruling National Congress Party has confirmed that the rapprochement with the “Popular Congress”, led by Al-Turabi, lays the foundation for a new Islamic line-up that consists of over 50 national parties.

Ibrahim Ghandour, assistant to the president and his deputy in the ruling party, stressed, after a meeting of the party’s leadership held yesterday, that the upcoming days will witness an agreement between the political parties regarding the mechanisms of a national dialogue that aims to “achieve alignment regarding the issues of unifying visions and agreeing on national constants that unite the people of Sudan in light of the current challenges.”

However, Al-Turabi’s party hinted at resuming its old mottos and preparing the streets for a popular uprising to “overthrow the regime” in the event dialogue with the ruling party fails. Mohammed Al-Amin Khalifa, responsible for the troubled areas, believes that the dialogue requires patience and restraint in order to resolve the complicated, complex and thorny issues.

At a press conference, Khalifa also stressed the need for “utilising logic in order to achieve the most viable logic and deliver the country to safety”, calling for the need “not to return to square one and dredge up the bitterness from the conflict between the Islamists (Al-Bashir and Al-Turabi) in 1999, as a prelude to reach middle ground in upcoming dialogue.”

Khalifa also denied that the most recent meeting between Al-Bashir and Al-Turabi aims to confront the liberal and secular (left-wing), pointing out the possibility of contacting the armed movements in Darfur in order to participate in the dialogue.

On the other hand, leader of the opposition National Umma Party, Sadiq Al-Mahdi, believes that Al-Bashir and Al-Turabi’s alliances and their repeated actions “will be a disaster for Sudan”, noting that when they were united in the past, during the first 10 years of Al-Turabi’s term, they “showed us all forms of torture, so if they have any desire to return to such practices, we must strongly oppose them”,

Al-Mahdi added: “The restoration of Al-Bashir and Al-Turabi’s alliance will harm the internal and foreign policies.” He explained that if they agree with the opposition in transitioning from the partisan format to a nationality format, “they will find a solution to the internal issues and the foreign relations”. He also said that “their conflict and division was a result of their flight over power.

In other matters, Britain has demanded that the Sudanese government respect human rights and create an atmosphere conducive to the success of a national dialogue to address the country’s problems.

The British ambassador to Sudan, Peter Tibber, criticised Khartoum’s restriction on public freedoms and the confiscation of newspapers and said he feels that the government’s actions weaken the chances of the success of the national initiative put forward by Al-Bashir.

Tibber also expressed the British government’s concerns over the recent acts of violence that led to the death of Ali Abkar Mousa, a student at the University of Khartoum, and also criticised the prevention of the opposition from organising a political conference in the Sudanese capital.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.