The Khartoum Regime Declares “States of Emergency” as 2018 Budget Is Released
Eric Reeves | December 31, 2017 | https://wp.me/p45rOG-2bc
The Khartoum regime is now declaring “state of emergency” as a way of preparing the for massive protests that will follow promulgation of the disastrous 2018 budget, with its crushing effects on ordinary Sudanese. Politicians throughout Sudan see clearly the real reasons for regime declaring of “states of emergency”—and they understand that the same measures will likely spread soon to other regions beyond those reported today by Radio Dabanga and Sudan Tribune:
• Khartoum imposes State of Emergency in Kassala, North Kordofan | Radio Dabanga | December 31, 2017 | EL OBEID / KASSALA | https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudan-state-of-emergency-imposed-in-kassala-north-kordofan
The disarmament campaign has been extended to North Kordofan and Kassala. On Saturday, Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir imposed the State of Emergency in these two states. Activists and politicians doubt the reasons for the measure. Politicians and activists in North Kordofan wonder why the State of Emergency has to be imposed for the arms collection. “In reality, Khartoum wants to further restrict our fundamental rights and freedoms under the pretext of collecting weapons,” an activist told Radio Dabanga from the capital of El Obeid. “They just need the State of Emergency to suppress renewed protests against the sky-rocketing prices.
Lawyer Osman Saleh also rejected the idea. “The Sudanese Constitution conditions a declaration of a State of Emergency with disasters and epidemics or foreign intervention.” He expects as well that the government will use the State of Emergency “to tighten its suppression on the currently developing public unrest because of the scarcity of bread and fuel and the crazy price rises.”
In Kassala, protests were also heard. Mohamed El Hassan Iheimir, Head of the Unified National Unionist Party in Kassala state told this station that the declaration of the State of Emergency “constitutes an attempt to curtail freedoms under the guise of arms collection. “Implementing such a measure aims to cut the way for any possible street protests from against the passage of the 2018 budget, the repeated sharp rise of basic consumer prices, and the escalating fuel and wheat shortages,” he said. “Moreover, the State of Emergency will lead to a complete paralysis of the political life in Kassala.” The party leader stated that the authorities do not need the State of Emergency for its disarmament campaign. “Khartoum has been distributing weapons to its loyal tribes and militias, so they know exactly where and from whom they collect the weapons.”
Iheimir also reported that the police has prohibited the Unified National Unionist Party from organising an event celebrating Sudan’s Independence Day [1 January 1956] at a public square in Kassala… “The party met all the required conditions as we have informed the police eight days before the event would take place – although the law provides for only three-day prior notification,” he said. “The prohibition is clearly an attempt to suppress dissenting opinions.”
• Sudan’s president declares state of emergency in North Kordofan and Kassala | Sudan Tribune, Khartoum | December 31, 2017 | http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article64379
Excerpts:
Also, there were reports that the state of emergency will be imposed in some of the central states including the capital, Khartoum not for the purpose of supporting the disarmament campaign but to counter possible protests that could erupt against the tough economic measures in the 2018 budget that was deposited to the parliament last week.
It is noteworthy that demonstrations broke out in several Sudanese states in September 2013 following the government’s decision to lift fuel subsidies. Rights groups said that at least 200 people were killed but the government put the death toll at 85.