Sudan awaiting 'honeymoon' harvest

Muzdalifa Mohammed Osman-Khartoum

"We are in a honeymoon with the world." With that sentence, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdouk summarized the state of recovery that overshadowed Khartoum's relations with Western capitals after a long break, and immediately after the announcement of the formation of an authority by a majority of civilians.

Sudan, which has been in isolation for more than 10 years, is witnessing after the formation of its new transitional government open with the leaders and countries of the world rider to help and support this economically collapsed country.

The transitional government, which followed the overthrow of the former regime, inherited a heavy legacy of economic challenges and difficulties, which was the main factor in the outbreak of mass protests that ended with the military's ouster of former President Omar al-Bashir, in favor of a popular demand that led the revolution for five months.

Observers believe that the global blockade imposed on Khartoum has led - in the long run - to worsen its economic crisis after the restriction of state aid to humanitarian aspects and donations and aid to those affected by war.

Programs programs
Now the next prime minister - coming to be treated with recipes, economic plans and detailed programs from international institutions - hopes to succeed with world support to cross Sudan into a relatively safe harbor, and is confident that the new climate will create global “sympathy” with Sudan.

"If they can achieve peace in one to six months, this will create a good climate, because the war is spent between 70 and 80 percent of our budget," Hamdouk told a news conference. "We can then spend on education and infrastructure, and restart production through an economy." Strong and sustainable. "

But the administration's insistence on keeping Sudan on the list of state sponsors of terrorism remains an additional burden to any openness awaited by Khartoum.Therefore, the new prime minister's focus during his meetings with European officials and ambassadors was to urge them to work with him to persuade Washington to end Sudan's blacklist.

In this regard, Hamdouk will travel to New York later this month to participate in the meetings of the United Nations General Assembly as the highest Sudanese official to arrive there since 2010, where then Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, the former Vice President isolated in these meetings without being followed by an official of this level, after becoming The head of state is wanted by the International Criminal Court.

It is hoped that the Prime Minister will hold meetings on the sidelines of these meetings with the participating Heads of State and Government and senior officials to attract the international support necessary for the success of the transitional period, the achievement of the democratic transformation, and the completion of addressing the issues of peace, IDPs and refugees in Sudan. .

Critical lift
Journalist interested in international relations, Wasel Ali Taha, said that the prime minister's term, describing the situation with the world as "honeymoon", is quite healthy, especially since there is an international desire to sponsor the change that took place in Sudan after a decade of the presence of a wanted president and the pariah of the international community. The universality of Sudan is negative and relates to violations of human rights, the suppression of freedoms, or the oppression of women.

Taha points out in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that the presence of Sudan in a volatile region is important for the international community, and that the absence of Bashir raises the embarrassment of dealing with a dictatorial regime and the human rights criticism that accompany it.

"Germany has announced that it will put pressure on Washington to remove Sudan from the list of terrorism, and will consult with the Bundestag (parliament) to restore development aid."

Wasel Taha expects the European countries to follow the example of Berlin, taking into account that the US administration announced earlier that it had asked the countries of the world, especially the Gulf States - to help Sudan in areas prohibited by the US Trump administration because of sanctions.

"The aid will depend primarily on the economic plans and policies of the government of Hamdouk, the behavior of the military component in governing the civilian government, and the absence of serious human rights violations in the peace file."

Criminal face
But the rights activist and member of the Central Committee of the Sudanese Communist Lawyer Saleh Mahmoud assures Al-Jazeera Net that the government of Hamdouk is facing complications that make optimism of openness to the world subject to its ability to deal with the file of justice, and to agree to the global demand to hand over Bashir to the Criminal Court.

He pointed out that the military council - dissolved - by its leaders had spoken that they would not hand over al-Bashir to the criminal, which would create a confrontation between the Council of Ministers and the Council of Sovereignty headed by Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, while the whole world will demand that Khartoum surrender to achieve justice.

Mahmoud said that the government of Hamdouk can not also make a decision on the withdrawal of troops from Yemen, because the decision is exclusive to the military.

To say that Sudan's release from its former isolation is linked to its willingness to deal with files that caused the blockade of Sudan, especially terrorism and harboring extremists from the world.

"This can only be known through a practical examination, giving proof of the curtailment of the activities of international organization, then respect for human rights, and the approval of an international commission to investigate the violations that accompanied the revolution, including the disengagement of the General Command."

"The whole world stands with the victims, while the military in the Sovereignty Council has no interest in having an international commission of inquiry, because they are all subject to investigation; they are legally responsible for protecting protesters and thus for breaking up sit-ins," Mahmoud said. "No matter how optimistic we are, the situation is complicated."

Internal consensus
Ihab Idris, an official in the Communist Party's foreign relations department, said that leasing the isolated al-Bashir regime for 99 years to Saudi and Emirati investors was a matter of national sovereignty and a challenge for the prime minister's government.

And stresses the island Net on the interdependence of internal and external policy files, which required a national consensus and consensus.

"To ensure this, we insisted that there be a commitment to all the charters signed with the opposition, including the establishment of a constitutional conference."

He noted that removing Sudan from the list of terrorism will ensure that Sudan deals with international economic institutions in the event of an economic policy agreed upon internally, which is currently missing.

Idris believes that the challenges facing Hamdouk and the foreign minister are very complex and need them to seek a national consensus through dialogue and specialized conferences.

"No one can rely on international relations to address the situation, without having a national program."