Sadiq al-Mahdi calls for the departure of Bashir and offers an initiative

The leader of the opposition Umma Party in Sudan Sadiq al-Mahdi called on President Omar al-Bashir to leave, stressing the peaceful work of the political transition, on the impact of continuous protests since 19 December last.

In a Friday sermon, al-Mahdi urged Bashir to comply with the protests and resign. "This regime must go and a transitional period in the near future," he said, stressing that he would mobilize his supporters in peaceful demonstrations and sit-ins inside and outside Sudan.

Al-Jazeera's correspondent in Khartoum, Mohammed al-Tayeb, said that the most important thing in the Mahdi's speech is to present an initiative called "the Charter of Salvation", which aims at the departure of the regime and the formation of a national transitional government that includes all political parties, youth and civil society organizations.

He added that this document will be signed by all parties and currents before being submitted to Parliament.

This initiative will be accompanied by a large number of marches, marches and peaceful sit-ins organized by these parties signed the document.

He called on the government to release the detainees and prosecute the perpetrators, noting that 50 people were killed in these protests, which began on 19 December last.

Mahdi, who leads Sudan's leading opposition party, was the last president of a democratically elected government and was overthrown by a coup that took incumbent President Omar al-Bashir to power in 1989.

On the ground, the correspondent reported that demonstrations were launched from the mosque of Al-Ansar Omdurman, the press district, pointing out that the police had dispersed the demonstrations with tear gas.

On Friday, a group of Sudanese professionals and three opposition coalitions called for public demonstrations and Friday prayers in public squares.

The death toll has risen to 30, according to official figures, compared to forty, according to human rights organizations, since the outbreak of protests that denounced the deteriorating economic conditions, before raising the ceiling by calling for the departure of the regime.