Frustrated by the military council delaying the transfer of power to civilians, Sudan’s opposition leaders on Wednesday warned to launch a nationwide civil disobedience movement.
“We call for and prepare for civil disobedience,” Madani Abbas Madani, a leader of the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF), said during a news conference in Khartoum, reported Africa News.
The two sides have failed to reach a conclusion on the formation of a new ruling council. The military leaders are warning about holding elections in six months if an agreement can’t be reached with the opposition.
The threatening follows the demands of Sudan’s military rulers that the constitution of the interim government be guided by Sharia law. In addition, the army said it also wants Arabic explicitly listed as the country’s official language.
“The document we received has omitted the sources of legislation,” said Transitional Military Council (TMC) Spokesperson, Lieutenant General Shams El Din Kabbashi, commenting on a draft constitutional document presented by protest groups and supporting political parties. “Our view is that Islamic Sharia and the local norms and traditions in the Republic of Sudan should be the sources of legislation.”
The protest leaders have rejected efforts to use Islamic law as the basis for a new constitution.
Amged Farid, the spokesman for the Sudanese Professionals Association, told the Middle East Eye news portal on Wednesday that the move was with a motive to “blackmail” opposition activists.
He said issues like Sharia or the language of the state are ideological weapons the former regime kept using to divide the people on the issue of mobilization, between Muslims and non-Muslims, Arabs and non-Arabs.
“The insertion of Islamic and Sharia issues into this situation is an attempt to practice political blackmail,” Farid said.
The protest groups are demanding the military officers who took over to hand over power to civilians’ immediately. Months of street demonstrations led to the ousting of longtime President Omar al-Bashir from office last month.
