The Sudanese National Front for Change (NFC) and the Umma Party have both announced their intention to submit a memorandum to President Omar al-Bashir demanding the appointment of a “transitional council” to temporarily run the country’s affairs. The announcement was made at a Tuesday press conference organized by the NFC, an umbrella group of political parties, and the Umma Party led by Mubarak al-Fadil, a former deputy prime minister.
CALL FOR THE DISSOLUTION OF BOTH CHAMBERS OF PARLIAMENT
The NFC’s 22 member-parties include the Reform Now Party led by Ghazi Salahuddin and the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood. The planned memorandum will reportedly call for an interim council to govern the country until a national government — consisting of technocrats and party representatives — can be drawn up.
The Reform Now Party’s Salahuddin, for his part, said the party’s political bureau had decided to withdraw from the government. “Political parties are lagging behind the street, which is united and which continues to stage demonstrations to demand al-Bashir’s departure,” he said. “We must work on bridging the gap between the street and the political parties,” he added.
Over the course of the past two weeks, demonstrations have rocked several Sudanese states amid mounting public frustration over rampant inflation and acute commodity shortages. The authorities say that at least 19 people have been killed in the demonstrations, which kicked off in earnest in mid-December.
Opposition groups, meanwhile, put the death toll at closer to 40.