Sudan opposition leader, Islamists for regime change agree to coordinate efforts
March 29, 2019 (KHARTOUM) – The leader of the National Umma Party (NUP) and Sudanese Islamists groups calling for regime change agreed to establish a Coordination of the Forces of Change, as he marched for the first time in a protest organized after Friday prayer in Omdurman.
Last January, Sadiq al-Mahdi who is also the leader of the Sudan Call alliance welcomed the call for al-Bashir to go by the Islamist groups gathered under the umbrella of the National Front for Change (NFC) led by Ghazi Salah al-Din and said they look forward to coordinating with them.
A statement released in Khartoum on Friday said the meeting took place on Thursday at the invitation of Sadiq al-Mahdi “in the framework of national efforts to reach a comprehensive national approach to the crisis experienced by Sudan”.
It further mentioned that the meeting was also attended by the National Coordination for Change and Construction, another group of dissident Islamists who call for regime change.
The meeting agreed to support the protests, to maintain the spirit of the popular movement and develop it until reaching a peaceful regime change.
Further, the participants agreed to establish ” the coordination of the forces of change as a mechanism to coordinate efforts for peaceful change” and commissioned al-Mahdi to continue his efforts to unify the opposition groups and to join the mechanism.
On 3 January, the National Front for Change(NFC) led by Ghazi Salah al-Din Attabani supported by the Umma Party of Mubarak al-Fadel called on al-Bashir to transfer power to a collegial leadership body that will oversee and ensure democratic reforms and peace talks with the rebel groups led by a transitional government.
But, the Sudanese Communist Party rejected their support to the popular movement.
After Friday prayer, al-Mahdi joined a protest the worshipers used to hold at the end of the weekly prayer.
This was the first time he participates in a demonstration since his return to the country on 19 December 2018 after ten months of self-imposed exile in Egypt and the UK.
(ST)