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News > World

Sudan: Former PM al-Mahdi Calls for al-Bashir's Resignation

  • Sudanese opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi speaks in Khartoum, Sudan, Dec. 19, 2019.

    Sudanese opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi speaks in Khartoum, Sudan, Dec. 19, 2019. | Photo: Reuters

Published 26 January 2019
Opinion

The religious leader, who until now had been silent about the demonstrations, also called for a national conference to draft a new constitution and announced mobilizations.

Friday Sudanese opposition leader and former Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi called for the resignation of President Omar al-Bashir, amid the protests that have already claimed the lives of some 30 people.

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Sudan: Protesters Urge President Omar al-Bashir to Step Down

"This [administration] must leave and be replaced by a transitional government," al-Mahdi said during a sermon at a mosque, which reportedly has links to his Umma Party.

The religious leader, who until now had been silent about the demonstrations, also called for a national conference to draft a new constitution, and announced mobilizations.

A spokesman for the police, Hashim Ali Abdulrahim, announced that two new deaths have been recorded during demonstrations in the state of Khartoum. With this figure, the number of fatalities has risen to 30.

Al-Mahdi also announced that 20 political and civil society groups are going to sign a "document of salvation," which demands the replacement of President al-Bashir's Administration, by a transitional government. It also contemplates the application of an economic program to alleviate poverty.

Besides delivering that petition to parliament, about 100 Sudanese community leaders will call for additional demonstrations inside and outside the country to demand the resignation of the administration.

The opposition leader also condemned the killing of civilians and asked that the "rational" members of the government reject the bloodshed of innocents.

The protests have taken place almost daily, in several parts of Sudan, since Dec. 19, last year. Although the demonstrations began to reject an increase in basic product prices, they gradually became an anti-government protest.

The demonstrations have continued despite the fact that President al-Bashir received, this week, the support of the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al-Zani, who expressed support for the African Nation's "unity and stability."

The official Saudi SPA agency indicated that King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud  sent a ministerial delegation to Sudan to support the al-Bashir Government in the face of "the current economic challenges."

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