Sudan central bank employees join opposition protestors

A number of employees of the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS) have joined the country’s nationwide protests against the Transitional Military Council (TMC), calling for elections of a civilian government.

Al-Ghad yesterday released a video showing the CBoS employees as they were organising a demonstration, in solidarity with the protestors.

The footage showed the announcement of their joining the rebels, their readiness for a political strike and civil disobedience if their request was not implemented, explaining that nothing was more important than Sudan.

The footage portrayed the staff members joining the Sudanese opposition and calling for “a political strike and civil disobedience if their demands were not met.”

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“Nothing is more important than our nation, Sudan,” the demonstrators stressed.

In April, Sudan’s army deposed long-serving president Omar Al-Bashir following months of popular protest against his 30-year rule. The TMC is now overseeing a two-year “transitional period” during which it has pledged to hold free presidential elections. But the opposition, led by the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), has continued, demanding the army to hand over power to a civilian government.

Demonstrators – centred on a sit-in outside the military headquarters in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum – are calling for a rapid transition to civilian rule, and demanding justice over the deaths of dozens of people since protests triggered by an economic crisis and decades of repressive rule spread across Sudan starting 19 December.

In mid-May, the Sudanese army and the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF) – a coalition of protesters and opposition groups led by the SPA – held talks on the handover of power. They agreed on a three-year transition before elections but were said to have disputed over whether civilians or the military would control a sovereign council that would hold ultimate power.