Sudanese communist party blasts government and opposition parties
November 9, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) has directed harsh criticism at the National Congress Party (NCP) led government and held it accountable for the economic deterioration, emphasizing the need for working hard to overthrow the regime.
The SCP’s central committee held a joint meeting with party branches on Friday and discussed the current political and economic situation and decided to boycott the upcoming general elections in 2015.
In statement obtained by Sudan Tribune, the SCP said that its objective is to escalate masses discontent which would lead to forming a broad front to topple the regime through civil disobedience and general strike.
It called for maintaining the unity of the opposition umbrella organization National Consensus Forces (NCF) and activating its daily work.
The statement also called for protecting the people’s uprising by exposing the tenuous arguments about restructuring the NCF or signing a new charter for the opposition forces.
The SCP was referring to the proposals made by the NUP which recently suspended its participation in the NCF meetings over these demands.
The statement pointed that the objective conditions which caused the recent protests still persists, saying that the regime couldn’t escape the economic and political problems.
Last September, one of the deadliest wave of protests in Sudan’s history erupted against the government decision to cut fuel subsidies and hike prices of gasoline and diesel.
Authorities said that 84 people were killed in the demonstrations but opposition, human rights organizations, and activists put the death toll at more than 200.
The SCP further warned against the deceptive methods adopted by the regime to weaken the opposition and fragment its unity, saying that it is aware of some in the opposition intentions to reconcile with the regime under the pretext of achieving the country’s interests and maintaining its unity.
The statement also pointed to the different phases of the revolution, saying that the SCP’s strategy is to harness all efforts and material resources to overthrow the regime.
It mentioned that the regime intentionally ignored issues of freedoms, democratic transformation, pluralism, decentralization, identity, and balanced development which represent the top priority for resolving Sudan’s comprehensive crisis.
The statement further pointed to the continuation and escalation of civil wars in Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile, mentioning the negative impact of the tribal conflicts in Darfur.
It said that the absolute control over power exercised by the NCP led to its inability to rule the country, pointing to the NCP’s policies which serve the interests of its affiliates against the interests of the overwhelming majority of the Sudanese citizens.
The SCP also said that the NCP policies particularly the privatization of the public agricultural, industrial, and services corporations led to the rampant corruption.
It praised the recent protests and said that youths and women showed great courage which made them the main target for the regime’s snipers, pointing that vandalism and looting incidents which took place during the protests were carried out by the regime forces and affiliates.
The SCP meeting criticized the political stance of the NUP’s al-Mahdi and his proposals which aim to impose his control over the NCF or at least create a parallel opposition body within it.
Last month, Al-Mahdi suggested that his party is not prepared to support any uprising against the government until political and social groups in the country agree to a clear alternative.
He said that his party did not call on its membership to join the recent protests.
“The reason for not inviting the [NUP] youths to protest is for the lack of suitable alternative and we previously tabled the question of who is the alternative and did not find it,” he said
Some members of the NUP politburo privately say that they believe al-Mahdi has forged a secret deal with the NCP to assure that the opposition party stays away from any attempts to stage mass protests against the regime.
Last June, al-Mahdi said he does not approve of the 100-day plan to oust the regime announced by the National Consensus Front (NCF) even though a representative of the NUP at the coalition said he took part in formulating the scheme.
Instead, he offered a different initiative to change the regime through collecting a million signatures and organizing sit-ins in public squares and other places.
The SCP also criticized the political stances of the DUP’s leader Mohamed Osman Al-Mirghani, saying that he put his party and his religious sect (Khatmiya) at the disposal of the regime.
The DUP left opposition ranks and joined the “broad-base” government of the National Congress Party (NCP) in December 2011, citing the “need to save the country” in the words of al-Mirghani himself.
The decision of one of Sudan’s biggest opposition parties to join the government has created a great deal of internal dissent that saw many members quitting in protest. The party received three ministries in the federal cabinet.
The SCP meeting also approved the need to maintain strong ties with the SRF, stressing the important role it could play in promoting the methods of peaceful strife against the regime.
The SRF is a coalition between the rebel groups in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
(ST)