Weekly Press Columns Digest
26 May, 2019
KHARTOUM, May 26 (SUDANOW)—The start for this week will be two columns that appeared on Altayyar daily newspaper of Sunday concentrating on the remnants of the defunct regime, one dealing with the Islamists and the other with the politicians and insignificant political parties that supported deposed president Omar al-Beshir up to his final days in power.
Veteran Mahjoub Urwah said he intends to discuss with a number of religious sheikhs the concept of secularism on the occasion of plans of staging processions in support of Islamic Sharia, citing the visions of Malaysian Mahathir Mohamed and Turkish Recep Tayyeb Erdogan on the issue.
Urwah said, after a speech in which Mohamed spoke about the importance of freedom, justice, honesty and proficiency, a Muslim sheikh told him that he did not mention Sharia; in response Mohamed replied that the elements which he mentioned were the Islamic Sharia.
Erdogan, according to the columnist, said secularism is not a faith, nor is it atheism or irreligion but is a way of ruling while taking equal distance from all ideologies and observing neutrality, justice and equality to all different groups.
A true faith is not reflected in appearance, in hot speeches nor in killing people unjustifiably, it is not committing crimes, favoritism and corruption in the name of sharia, Urwah said.
He appealed to the Islamists not to repeat the ingaz political Islam when the sharia was employed as a means for atrocity, suppression and corruption.
For her part, columnist Shamail al-Nour has noticed that alliances of political parties which had no existence on the ground and which used to take shape during the ingaz regime and fight for a cake in power have now reappeared for the same purpose.
Those groups joined hands with the deposed president until the last moment, supported all his decisions ad policies and urged him to suppress opponents and soon upon his fall, they hurried up to the Transitional Military Council (TMC) and introduced themselves as having been part of the revolution, Shamail said.
An end must be put to this foolish politics and no return must be allowed to the ingaz policies of power-sharing based on tribalism or regionalism and the ingaz terms of national accord and closing of ranks, the columnist said.
Only qualified persons must run the transitional period after which those groups and parties have to prepare themselves for true free and fair elections, said Shamail, stressing that a heavy price has been paid for the success of the revolution which accepts no foolish behavior.
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In a column that was published by Al-Sudani daily newspaper of Monday, Abdul Bagy al-Zafir elaborated on the character of the Vice Chairman of the Transitional Military Council (TMC), Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (aka Hamidaty), saying that he is characterized by frankness, either because he is a new actor in politics or because he is so confident that he does not fear the consequences of his word which, like a bullet, not return to the muzzle.
Citing an example of Daglo's frankness, Zafir said the VC told a press conference last April he had backed up the public treasury with 1.127 billion US dollars, frankly identifying the sources as the Sudanese forces in Yemen and investments in gold mining.
Born in 1975, Daglo until 2010 was a low-ranking officer in the Frontiers Guard force based in Darfur that was commanded by then Brigadier Abdul Fattah al-Burhan. His star began to rise when Khartoum assigned him to confront the armed (rebel) movements and also to curb the growing influence of his cousin Mussa Hilal who was leader of the Janjaweed forces, the columnist said, adding that victories that Daglo scored in the two missions brought him high into the inner circle close to then President Omar al-Beshir.
Zafir said, in a meeting with leaders of the native administration in Khartoum in the presence of the US Charge D'Affaires and the Saudi Ambassador this week, Daglo spoke in a style reminiscent of late VP Zubair Mohamed Salih in a simple language citing Koranic verses and Prophet Mohammad's sayings and alleging that everything he does is only for God.
The columnist added that the VC informed the meeting that he is opposed to political isolation and is demanding the formation of a government of technocrats not affiliated to any political party to ensure it is fully independent and free of revolutionary slogans.
Zafir said that Daglo prevented a Sharia support delegation from staging their first procession in support of Sharia, although he assured them at the meeting that Sharia is "a red line", making the delegation report that some TMC members have reservations with the agreement they reached by the Freedom and Change Forces.
The columnist deduced that the military are generally disinclined to change and that, due to their relations with the defunct regime, are not ready for taking action against the symbols of that regime and will busy themselves with the security issue.
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Columnist Zuhair al-Sarraj says he cannot perceive any reason for the Transitional Military Council (TMC) to cling to power save achieving a mean personal interest or an attempt to protect themselves or some of them against something they fear.
There is no difference between them and the ousted dictator who stuck to the chair to protect himself from accountability for the numerous crimes he has committed until he passes away while still on that chair; but his wishes were dispelled and was toppled and thrown behind bars. He was not rescued from this fate by the fortunes he has accumulated or by his security organs or even by those he has awarded the highest ranks who were the first to turn against him, Sarraj said.
He wondered whether the TMC members think they will be luckier than Beshir and decease while they are on the power chairs.
Nobody denies that they have taken sides with the people and refused to obey the orders of their commander to kill the protesters but it is their duty to protect the country and the people and for which they cannot expect to be awarded with the chairs of power, Sarraj added.
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The Sudanese people are now in a state of depression, at a loss of what is going on and are getting fed up of unfound solutions and disagreements between the negotiating parties, remarked Suhair Abdul Rahim in a column that appeared on Alintibaha daily newspaper of Saturday.
The political scene in Sudan is dominated by failed negotiations, protracted meetings, suspicious travels, external agenda and intelligence agents moving around while the people are waiting to see which of the two camps, Saudi Arabia-UEA-Egypt and Qatar-Iran-Turkey, will succeed, the columnist said.
The armed forces are mere bystanders while Hamidaty alone moves around locally and abroad, issuing dramatic decisions of temptation and intimidation, she said.
The great joy of the downfall of the regime began to lose radiance while the Transitional Military Council is reluctant to hand power over to the civilians, ignores cases of corruption and permits leaders of the defunct regime to escape while the Islamists are beginning to come back to life with their trade unions and organizations returned to them and their bank accounts released, Suhair said.
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