Weekly Press Columns Digest
02 June, 2019
KHARTOUM (Sudanow)—Things could have gone smoothly with no difficulties if the Freedom and Change Forces (FCF) have not from the start agreed to negotiation with the Transitional Military Council (TMC) over arrangements for formation of a transitional government and instead, would have insisted on an immediate handover by the TMC of a civilian government with no negotiation whatsoever.
This statement was made by Jamal Ali Hassan in a column published by Alyoum Altaly daily newspaper of Sunday, adding, however, that things began easily but disagreements developed during the third meeting of the two sides on April 21 when the TMC suggested that the forthcoming government include other parties which were partners in the toppled regime and the FCF rejected this suggestion and accused the TMC of insincerity.
Hassan added that the two sides resumed negotiation and agreed on major issues of formation of a civilian council of ministers and a legislative council which the FCF would hold 67% of its membership but the signing of an agreement was hindered by disagreement on formation of a sovereign council and its presidency.
The two sides are still at loggerheads over the sovereign council as if it was taken for granted that the military should have a share in the membership of that council, the columnist said.
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Columnist Al-Tahir Satti devoted his regular column that appeared on Al-Sudani daily newspaper of Monday to analyzing the character of SPLM/N Deputy Chairman Yassir Arman who Satti has described as a true Sudanese and a valuable addition to the revolution and to the Freedom and Change Forces following his recent return from a self-imposed exile abroad.
The columnist welcomed Arman as a dedicated Sudanese national who fought for the unity of the Sudan, joining ranks with late John Garang at a time when northern Sudanese politicians considered alliance with a southerner as a crime.
He added that Arman possesses a rich political experience and is an excellent negotiator for participation on the FCF side in negotiations with the Transitional Military Council.
Further analyzing the character of Arman, Satti said the SPLM/N Deputy Chairman learned from Dr. Garang how to establish tactical alliances even with opponents, citing a recent statement by Arman in which he stretched a cordial hand to the Islamists.
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Aljareedah daily newspaper of Tuesday carried two columns on visits by TMC Chairman Abdul Fatah al-Burhan and Vice Chairman Mohamed Hamdan Daglo to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia respectively.
Columnist Zuhair al-Sarraj said Burhan was received by the second man in the UAE, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zaid and was identified in a caption on the official TV channel of Dubai as only a Sudanese military official being reassured by the Amir of the UAE full support to the Sudan, without mentioning his title or rank.
Sarraj added that, like his predecessor Omar al-Beshir, Burhan was welcomed during his first visit to the UAE by the Amir but the columnist predicted that during the second visit he would be received by the director of the ceremonies, in the third visit by a driver and in the fourth one he would be greeted by a low-level official of the Zakat Chamber who would ask about the reason for his visit and would give some money from the pocket.
Burhan was a laughing stock on the social media as he was shown in a picture giving a military salute to Egypt's President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, forgetting he is also a head of state, Sarraj said.
He added that Burhan should have observed the dignity of the Sudanese people who helped him occupy this position only for making arrangements for establishment of a civilian authority, not for clinging to power.
In the second column Haider al-Mikashfy questioned the presence of General Taha Osman al-Hussein during a meeting in Saudi Arabia of TMC VC Daglo with Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz.
Hussein, who holds two nationalities, was director of the office of deposed President Omar al-Beshir, is presently a consultant for the Saudi Arabian government.
Mikashfy believes that the visit might have been arranged by notorious Gen. Hussein for exploiting his intimate relationship with ousted president Beshir for guaranteeing resumption of the Saudi relations with the TMC over the war in Yemen.
The columnist also questioned the identity of a Sudanese person in a tidy costume who was shown on Dubai TV screen standing between Sheikh Mohamed bin Zaid and visiting TMC Chairman Burhan.
He wondered whether it was also Hussein or another person who plays the same role of trying to bring closer the relations between the TMC and the UAE too.
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At last and after hesitance and ridiculing the popular revolution, Imam (religious leader) Sadek al-Mahdi has made up his mind and decided to take a position against the people and play down efforts for escalation of their battle for a civilian state.
This was how Dr. Haider Ibrahim Ali began a regular column published by Aljareedah daily newspaper of Thursday commenting on Mahdi's opposition to the two-day general strike and the indecent language he used in belittling the revolution of the youth.
Following a pause of silence and failure to pray for the souls of the martyrs as well as failure to demand trial of the criminals of the deposed ingas regime, Mahdi called for militarizing the proposed sovereign council, Dr. Ali said.
Further dissecting the character of Mahdi, the columnist went on to say that the Imam is possessed by self-conceit, feeling that he is above everyone and everything, including the homeland.
Another characteristic Mahdi is suffering from is an inherent hatred to leftism, hence his belief that the Sudanese left dominates the Freedom and Change Forces alliance which spearheads the current upheaval, said Dr. Ali.
He wished that Mahdi's counter-revolutionary position which Ali described a suicidal, would put an end to the dual sectarianism of Ansar and Khatmiyah that shared power along with the military for a total 52 out of the 63 years of the Sudan's independence, hampering the country's development.
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The closure of the Khartoum office of Aljazeera TV channel is step one by the Transitional Military Council (TMC) of going back to the policy of confiscation of the freedoms which triggered the present popular revolution, said Shamail al-Nour in a column that was published by Altayyar daily newspaper of Saturday.
She warned that the TMC which is functioning "Without any degree of legitimacy", will not stop at this point, but tomorrow it will confiscate this newspaper, after tomorrow it will start summoning journalists and then it will declare red lines for the press coverage.
Aljazeera was shut down indefinitely for no reason other than covering the popular revolution and the sit-in, Shamail said, adding that it is widely believed by analysts that the measure was dictated by the Saudi-UAE axis against the Qatari channel.
The TMC is clearly following the footsteps of the toppled regime and with this shutdown it intends to pass a message to the people bluntly saying: "This is how I am… what are you going to do," said the columnist.
However, she considered it a good thing for the TMC to show its true face at this early stage and she called for a second round of the popular revolution.
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