Sudan’s Republican Party announces resumption of its activities without registration
November 21, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s opposition Republican Party Tuesday announced the resumption of its political activities without waiting for a decision on its application for registration from the Political Parties Council.
The Republican Party was founded in 1945 under the chairmanship of Mahmoud Mohamed Taha. After the independence, the group worked under the name of Republican Brotherhood but they didn’t take part in any elections.
The group founder and leader was executed by President Gaafer al-Nimeri in 1985 after his opposition to the implementation of Islamic law in the country. Taha was charged with apostasy.
The Islamic thinker called to reform the religion and repeal some texts from the Meccan period in order to construct a society based on equality and social justice. He also campaigned the Islamic law of 1983 despite his aversion to involvement in politics.
The Political Secretary of the Republican Party, Haider al-Safi Shabo, said the party will not wait for the government to give him the right to exercise his activity because he has a vision and a project that he will seek to turn into reality.
He explained that his party will focus on public awareness in order to avoid chaos in the event of the fall of the regime.
He stressed that the Republicans “will be a real obstacle to the National Congress (Party) in the 2020 elections so as they cannot reproduce their experience again”. ” Our work during the coming period will focus on the censure of political Islam and will tell people that it has nothing to do with religion. ”
“The political vision of the party is based on intellectual change and the party has no other objective than fighting the Salafi ideology,” Shibo said. “This means that the National Congress (Party) has no room to wear the dress of religion in the 2020 elections,” he stressed.
The Republican Party Secretary-General, Asma Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, confirmed that “the party will not take part in any elections unless 50 +1 (the majority) of the Sudanese people agree to its intellectual project”.
She further pointed to that the party’s platform for a radical Islamic reform allows the governors to charge it with apostasy, adding that the change will be through political awareness through free platforms and in the streets.
For his part, Deputy Secretary General of the Republican Party, Isam Khadr, explained that the religious establishment in the country obstructed its application for registration and prevented it in 2013.
“The religious establishment, which directs public opinion and the ruling authority, intervened and filed five appeals against the registration of the party after it received a Fatwa (an advisory opinion) from the Sudanese Scholars’ Corporation, despite their lack of competence,” he said.
He explained that the Political Parties Affairs Council refused to register the Republican Party claiming it violates the religion and it is a religious party that incites religious tensions. Also, he said they challenged the decisions and appealed against it but the Constitutional Court rejected their appeal 20 months later.
(ST)