Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has declared a one-year-long state of emergency, dissolving his cabinet and local governments throughout the country.
In a televised address on Friday, al-Bashir also called on Sudan’s parliament to postpone constitutional amendments that would allow him to run for another term in a presidential election in 2020.
Acknowledging the popular protests that have rocked his administration in recent months, the 75-year-old said the “demands of our people for better living conditions are lawful”.
“I will not stop calling for all parties to sit at the dialogue table,” he added.
Al-Bashir’s announcement on Friday followed months of nearly daily protests, with thousands of people taking to the streets across the country since December 19 to call for him to stand down after nearly three decades in office.
While the protests were initially set off by the rising cost of bread and fuel in the north of Sudan, they quickly grew into a demand for more political freedoms and an end to al-Bashir’s rule.
Months of protests
The demonstrations continued on Friday in the hours before al-Bashir’s speech.
Security forces fired teargas to disperse hundreds of protesters who marched and chanted anti-government slogans following Friday prayers at a major mosque near the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, eyewitnesses said.
Activists say nearly 60 people have been killed since the protests began, while authorities put the death toll at 32, including three security personnel.
Authorities, meanwhile, have arrested opposition party members, activists and journalists.
Spiralling inflation
Al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court over charges of masterminding genocide in the Darfur region, which he denies. He has been lobbying for Sudan to be removed from a list of countries Washington deems state sponsors of terrorism.
The listing has blocked the investment and financial aid that Sudan was hoping for when the United States lifted sanctions in 2017, economists say.
Sudan has been rapidly expanding its money supply in an attempt to finance its budget deficit, causing spiralling inflation and a steep decline in the value of its currency.
This is a developing story. More soon
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
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