Sudan: sporadic protests following end of fuel subsidies
Sudanese people line up at a petrol station in Khartoum on June 10, 2021. AFP - ASHRAF SHAZLY
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
Tension is high on the streets of many cities across the country following the government's decision last week to end fuel subsidies.
A measure that is part of an austerity cure initiated since the fall of Omar al-Bashir, to get into the nails set by the IMF.
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With our correspondent in Khartoum
,
Eliott Brachet
A month after the Paris conference, the transitional authorities continue to comply with international financial standards for Sudanese debt relief.
But these reforms go very badly, while the population is already hard hit by the economic crisis,
Overnight, the price of a gallon of gasoline at the pump almost doubled.
Sudden inflation which affected the daily life of all Sudanese.
Soaring prices of basic products, increase in the cost of bus tickets, in addition to power cuts, gasoline or drug shortages that have already been unrelenting for several months.
Sporadic demonstrations have therefore broken out all over Khartoum.
Dozens, sometimes hundreds of people gather spontaneously, day and night, raise barricades and set tires on fire.
Some want the reform to be withdrawn, others demand the fall of the government.
The Minister of the Economy Gibril Ibrahim, affirmed that he would continue on the path of the liberalization of the economy, considering that it is "
the only possible way to put the country back on track
".
For the Communist Party and the Association of Sudanese Professionals, this is an unfair measure that amounts to taking directly from the pockets of citizens without calling into question the weight of the army in the state budget.
On Saturday June 12, the police quelled numerous gatherings.
Several resistance committees ended up calling for calm and suspended calls for demonstrations.
They denounce the presence of many supporters of Omar al-Bashir, who would take advantage of the situation to generate chaos.
If the situation escalates, many fear an authoritarian reaction from the power in place.
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