Weekly Press Columns Digest
16 February, 2020
KHARTOUM (Sudanow)—The deadline for solving the bread crisis as promised by the Minister of Trade and Industry has come to an end, while queues at some bakeries have disappeared not because the bread has become available but because of the closure of those bakeries, noted Sumayah Sayyed in a column that was published by Al-Sudani Al-Dauliyyah daily newspaper of Sunday.
The truth is that the situation has worsened and the 24-hour bread queues have become the usual scene, indicating that the pledge by the Minister that the crisis would be over in three-weeks' time was either because he had to set the deadline under insistence by the press or because he was expecting to get funds to pay the flour invoice but unfortunately this did not happen.
Yesterday (Saturday) protests flared up in different residential quarters in the Sudanese capital Khartoum for lack of bread while long queues built up in front of the bakeries for long hours, making the situation unbearable, while all efforts have failed to fight corruption by owners of some bakeries who infiltrate subsidized flour for sale in the commercial prices for usage in making biscuits, vermicelli, etc., said the columnist, suggesting that the flour agents from the flour mills to the bakeries and from the bakeries to the consumers be supervised.
The owners of the bakeries still threaten that they would stop operation unless the bread price is increased, while the owners of the flour mills demand foreign currencies to import wheat and two days ago a lengthy meeting of the mills owners and the Minister of Trade and Industry resulted in providing funds for some of those mills but this would be enough for only two days, said Sumayah.
She added that the pledge by the Minister was impractical for three reasons- (1) the prices problem which can be resolved by negotiation (2) the scarcity of fuel for transportation of the flour which can also be settled and(3) the biggest problem of the scarcity of the foreign currency for paying the wheat and flour invoice.
------
Distinguished columnist Mahjoub Mohamed Salih has called in his regular column that was published by Al-Sudani Aldauliyyah daily newspaper of Thursday for reaching a comprehensive peace during the ongoing peace negotiations in Juba, South Sudan, that leaves nothing behind that could renew an armed conflict.
He said the comprehensive peace should cover all topics that led to the war besides all parties involved in the conflict, pointing out that there must be a single peace agreement for Darfur region that must include the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) faction led by Abdul Wahid Nor and also one peace agreement for the Two Areas (South Kordofan and Blue Nile) that includes both factions of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM/N) of both Malik Agar and Abdul Aziz al-Hilu.
Salih has warned against concluding agreements of partial solutions whether with the armed movements or with the civilian non-armed parties of the northern, eastern and central Sudan tracks, noting that the latter might cause confusion in the negotiations and therefore he advised that the negotiations and ultimate agreements should provide for the historic political, economic and social grievances.
-------
Columnist Ramzy al-Misry wrote in his regular column in Altahreer electronic newspaper “I have spent a whole day and a half waiting for my turn in the petrol station and wondering from where did I, who is bored by nature, acquire all this patience … Seeing hundreds of cars queuing before the petrol station I decided to make use of the opportunity and ask everyone I meet at the station about his opinion on the sequential crises and the transitional government which failed to ease the living hardships.
I was completely bewildered, Ramzi said, by the people opinions. Everyone in all these throngs who stayed for hours before the petrol stations answered me that he knows the situation and he is ready to sacrifice more days and months until the situations in the country improve. All of them agreed that they would not be defeated by the difficulties and crises and surrender to the defunct regime again. They are aware that what the country was suffering was but the making of the toppled regime. Though all of them are convinced that the transitional government ministers are doing their best but they think that some ministers are not as great as the revolution, the minister of Finance was one such example.
The columnist said this opinion reminded him of a critical remark which is the notable weakness of the information sector. There are some ministers whose performance is quite spectacular such as the ministers of health, justice, irrigation, energy and manager of the trade minister’s office...etc. But their achievements are unknown to the public because the minister of information and undersecretary of his ministry failed to build a revolutionary plan able to convey the correct information message.
------
In her regular column that was published on Altayyar daily newspaper of Tuesday, Asma'a Juma'ah noted that protesters came back on the streets in all parts of Sudan demanding the government to solve the economic crises, appoint civilian governors for the states and form the legislative assembly.
Those issues, in addition to failure of interaction with the people and informing them of the facts, have obstructed the change process and have contributed to continued influence and empowerment of the defunct regime and to anarchy, said Asma'a.
The government of Dr. Abdalla Hamdouk says it is exerting efforts for resolving all of the crises at one time, but those crises are complicated, particularly the peace and economy which, if settled, the remaining issues will be resolved automatically, the columnist said.
She named five obstacles which she identified as foes of the revolution, the first of which, according to Asma'a, is the Freedom and change Forces (FCF), which include the political parties that pursue personal and partisan ends and describe the government of weakness and failure, with the columnist citing the Communist Party as an example.
The second obstacle, according to the columnist, is the military component which she said still dominates the state and attempts to control and rule over the civilian component, controlling the central Bank and carrying out numerous political tasks such as peace negotiation with the rebel movements and does not abide by the Constitutional Document, preventing the government from discharging political and civilian activities.
She identified the third obstacle as the rebel armed movements which the government courteously referred to as the armed struggle movements which insist on negotiating premature issues like the secular question, seeking political gains and delaying appointment of the governors and formation of the legislative assembly.
The fourth obstacle, as seen by Asma'a, is the deep state which strives to kill the Revolution and bring back the extinct regime and which is represented by the cadres of former regime and those who sill control government institutions and do not hesitate to do anything against the government.
The fifth obstacle is a group of opportunists who the columnist said traffic in the crises market and who obstruct the change process.
Unless they did not cooperate with the government, the FCF and military components would be considered as standing against the change and against the interest of the Sudanese people and should be looked at as the cadres of the toppled regime, the deep state and the opportunists, said Asma'a, calling upon the people to pressure not only on the government but also on the armed movements, the military component and the FCF to seize performing negative roles and to fight off the deep state and the opportunists.w
E N D
MAS/AS
Post your comments
Photo of the Week
Everybody alive today came from one African country (The Independent) Ariana Baio Khartoum, Jan.1 (Sudanow)-It is well known that all humans alive today can be traced back to a common ancestor but a study may have found where that ancestor originates. Researchers at the University of Oxford’s Big Data Institute mapped the entirety of genetic relationships among humans t...
More-
01 January, 2023
Phone battery killed nine persons, injured twelve
Zalingei, Jan.1 (Sudanow) - A dispute over a phone battery, in Marin Market, Central Darfur, led to the killing of nine persons and injuring of another twelve. The Director of Central Darfur Police, Salah Omar Al-Tayeb told SUNA last Thursday that main reasons behind the events in Zalingei began with a dispute over a phone battery, where one of the citizens stabbed to death. The police official added that the police forces moved to th...
Contact Us
Address: Sudan News Agency (SUNA) Building, Jamhoria Street, Khartoum - Sudan
Mobile:+249 909220011 / +249 912307547