SCoP’s al-Digair calls to overthrow Sudan’s al-Bashir

December 28, 2018 (KHARTOUM) – The leader of the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP) Omer al-Digair said efforts are underway to form a unified opposition body to lead the ongoing protests calling to overthrow the regime of President Omer al-Bashir.

Since 19 December, large popular protests have been going on throughout Sudan demanding al-Bashir to step down. The demonstrations were met with excessive violence from the police and security forces leading to the death of 37 people and injuring hundreds according to Amnesty International.

The Sudanese government admitted that 19 people have been killed during the protests, saying 406 people were injured including 187 police officers.

Also, dozens of activists, journalists and opposition leaders have been arrested in an attempt to stop the growing demonstrations.

In an interview with Sudan Tribune on Friday before his arrest on Saturday, al-Digair said one of the most urgent tasks facing the change forces is to establish a unified body to coordinate efforts and rally behind the single demand of the resistance which is the removal of the regime.

“Some efforts have been made in this regard during the past days and it has gone a long way to form a coordinating body including all forces of change,” he said

He pointed out that a meeting was held on Wednesday including the National Consensus Forces (NCF), Sudan Call and other opposition forces to discuss the unification of the opposition.

“It is expected that a founding declaration of the coordinating body would be revealed during a couple of days and it would be open to all forces of change” he added.

Al-Digair called on all Sudanese to continue the protests, saying the ongoing mass mobilization is irreversible “because it has been baptized with blood and because its causes get worse with each passing day as the regime has no solutions to address them”.

He expressed hope that the leaders of the forces of change would transcend over personal political interests and show perseverance and focus on the substantial issues in order to escalate the mass mobilization until achieving victory.

The opposition leader also stressed the need for vigilance, warning against any actions by the regime to circumvent the demand of the masses and reproduce itself through deceptive moves.

It is noteworthy that the major opposition alliances, NCF and Sudan Call disagree over ways to overthrow the regime. While the NCF refused to engage in any dialogue with the government, the Sudan Call accepted to negotiate a political settlement with the government and took part in the African Union-brokered process to end the war and achieve political reforms in the country.

The NCF gathers mainly centre-left and leftist parties including the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP), the Arab Ba’ath Party (ABP), Nasserite Socialist Party (NSP) and the Unified National Unionist Party (UNUP).

The Sudan Call, which was established in Addis Ababa on 3 December 2014, includes the National Umma Party (NUP) and rebel umbrella of Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), and the Civil Society Initiative (CSI).

Sudan Call internal groups include the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP), Sudanese Baath Party (SBP), Center Alliance Party (CAP), Sudanese National Party (SNP) and Sudanese National Alliance (SNA).

(ST)