SUDAN: THE END OF A DICTATORSHIP

In: The African communist, Heft 102, S. 90-100

Abstract

ALMOST SIXTEEN YEARS AFTER NIMEIRI CAME TO POWER ON THE BACK OF POPULAR UNREST THE SAVIOR-TURNED-DICTATOR OF THE SUDAN HAS BEEN DEPOSED BY ANOTHER ARMY COUP. ON THIS OCCASION TOO, THE ARMED FORCES INTERVENED DURING WIDESPREAD CIVIL UNREST WHICH TOOK THE FORM OF A GENERAL POLITICAL STRIKE BY WORKERS, STUDENTS AND THE PROFESSIONAL STRATA. THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF THE REVOLT WHICH SPILLED OUT INTO THE STREETS OF THE CAPITAL, KHARTOUM, WAS THE LIFTING OF SUBSIDIES ON BASIC NECESSITIES SUCH AS BREAD. THE DEMAND FOR BREAD WAS SOON TRANSFORMED INTO AN ORGANISED STRIKE AGAINST THE ENTIRE SYSTEM OF WANT, POVERTY, BLOODSHED AND NEO-COLONIAL DEPENDENCE WHICH HAS CHARACTERISED THE DICTATORIAL, PRO-IMPERIALIST REGIME. AT ITS HEIGHT, JUST BEFORE THE ARMY TAKEOVER, THE STRIKE MOVEMENT ENCOMPASSED THE WIDEST AND MOST DIVERSE SECTIONS OF THE SOCIAL AND CLASS FORCES IN THE CAPITAL. DOCTORS, LAWYERS, TEACHERS, ENGINEERS, ACADEMICS AND STUDENTS TOOK TO THE STREETS. THEIR RANKS WERE DECISIVELY SWOLLEN BY THE WORKERS AND THEIR TRADE UNIONS. IN THE END, LARGE SECTIONS OF CIVIL SERVICE, JUDGES, MAGISTRATES, JOURNALISTS AND THE STAFF OF THE DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS HAD JOINED THE STRIKE IN THE DEMAND FOR THE RESTORATION OF DEMOCRACY IN THE SUDAN.