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Popular petition to parliament calls for Sudan’s Bashir to step down

January 21, 2019 at 2:09 pm

Hundreds of protesters come together during a demonstration against the soaring prices, the scarcity of basic goods and services in Sudan on 20 December 2018

Demonstrators took to the streets of Sudan again with the intention of submitting a popular petition to parliament calling for President Omar Al-Bashir to step down.

In the city of Omdurman to the west of the capital Khartoum, hundreds of demonstrators took part in a protest organised by the Association of Sudanese Professionals and three opposition coalitions. The association described the event on its Facebook page as the start of “the convoy of freedom’s martyrs.”

Witnesses said that hundreds of people in Omdurman headed towards parliament and chanted “Freedom, Peace, Justice” and “Revolution is the people’s choice,” reported Anadolu Agency. “The protestors launched a number of marches and convoys along major streets.” Other protests were held in Al-Fulah in West Kordofan state and the region of Wali Halawin, as well as the Kafuri district in the capital itself.

The demonstrations come as four leaders of the Sudanese Democratic Unionist Party, led by Mohammed Osman Al-Mirghani, resigned from the state legislatures in protest at the government’s violent response to peaceful demonstrators. One of those who resigned, Mohamed Hashim, who resigned from the Legislative Council of the state of Khartoum, said that he blamed the government for killing demonstrators.

Since 19 December, Sudan has witnessed bloody protests following the government’s decision to raise the price of bread. The protests escalated into widespread demonstrations against Bashir’s three-decade rule, which led to clashes with security forces. Officials say that at least 26 people have been killed, including a security officer, during a month of protests. Amnesty International, however, has put the death toll at more than 40.

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