Opposition stalwart says Sudan’s transition rights a historic wrong
At 83, two-time prime minister Sadiq Al Mahdi continues to be a powerful political figure in Sudan today, embracing the role of the seasoned statesman working behind the scenes to help rival forces agree on a political road map after the violence and tumult of revolution.
The value of that work cannot be exaggerated at a time when Sudan is struggling to move past the toxic legacy of 29 years of authoritarian rule defined by war, economic hardship, human rights offences and corruption.
Mr Al Mahdi spoke to The National yesterday at his home in Omdurman, twin city of the Sudanese capital. During the hour-long, wide-ranging interview, he singled out the economy and armed conflicts in west and south Sudan as the two most serious challenges facing the country after the ousting in April of longtime dictator Omar Al Bashir.
Mr Al Bashir brought his downfall on himself, Mr Al Mahdi said. “That man and his regime squandered every chance to escape their grim fate. They have willingly invited their destiny.”
But he betrayed no glee speaking about what it meant for him to see Mr Al Bashir, whose 1989 military coup toppled his freely elected government, appear before a criminal court on Monday charged with corruption.
Photographs of Sudan’s leader inside a defendants’ cage were splashed on the front page of nearly every Arab newspaper yesterday.
Memories of the 1989 coup are still bitter for the former prime minister, however, as it was Mr Al Mahdi’s own brother- in- law – the late radical leader Hassan Al Turabi – who engineered his overthrow.
Al Turabi’s National Islamic Front was briefly a partner in
a coalition government led by Mr Al Mahdi, whose second tenure was between 1986 and 1989. He first led the country, aged 30, in 1966.
Of Al Turabi, he said: “He harvested the bitter fruit of the seed he planted.”
He saw the ousting of Mr Al Bashir as a chance to rectify his own overthrow in 1989. “The wrong must eventually be vanquished, the righteous state must come back,” he said.
For months after the removal of Mr Al Bashir, Mr Al Mahdi sought to narrow the gap between the generals who removed him but wanted to cling to power, and the young but mostly inexperienced opposition leaders who organised months of street protests.
The two sides eventually reached a power-sharing agreement that outlined how the country would be ruled until the transitional period ends in late 2022 with elections. The document was signed on Saturday at a high-profile ceremony.
In some ways, Mr Al Mahdi’s role was a surprise to some young and overzealous opposition activists who saw him as a political relic from a bygone era and out of touch with the mood, aspirations and rebellious traits of Sudan’s contemporary youth.
To them, Mr Al Mahdi is the quintessential symbol of the traditional and religious forces that dominated but achieved little during three spells of democratic rule in the 1950s, 1960s and 1980s.
These forces, they argue, have been overtaken by a new strain of political activism that is mostly liberal, left-leaning and fearless in the face of the brutal force used by security personnel during the uprising.
Their argument may not be entirely without merit, although Mr Al Mahdi dismisses it as untrue and argues that he and his Umma party, Sudan’s largest, were at the heart of the uprising. He is also just as dismissive of the notion held by some activists that with his impeccable English, aristocratic manners and University of Oxford degree, he presided over an elitist political system. “This is nonsense. My thoughts and views keep up with change and I have authored books on a wide range of topics,” said Mr Al Mahdi, who boasted that he personally encouraged his children and grandchildren to participate in the four months of protests that paved the way for Mr Al Bashir’s removal in April.
“If the Umma party was as antiquated as they say, it would have met the same fate as the Democratic Unionist party, which is now practically extinct,” he continued, alluding to his party’s one-time chief rival.
Still, Mr Al Mahdi said he had no intention of seeking office.
“I am seeking a national, Arab, Islamic and international political role that is well away from partisan politics,” said Mr Mahdi, who, as is customary with him, quoted verse and medieval Arab philosophers during yesterday’s interview.
Other activists, however, revere Mr Al Mahdi as a leader whose political career spanning more than half a century saw him jailed, in hiding, exiled abroad and vilified as corrupt or an agent of the West.
A significant part of his relevance in the “new Sudan” comes from the voting power of his supporters, something that has maintained his Umma party as a political powerhouse through the years.
Mr Al Mahdi’s lineage is another considerable asset to many Sudanese.
His great grandfather was Mohammed Ahmed Al Mahdi, who led an uprising against Turko-Egyptian rule in the 19th century but whose subsequent state was defeated by an Anglo-Egyptian expedition in 1899. To this day the power base of Mr Al Mahdi’s Umma party remains in western and central Sudan, home of the descendants of the soldiers who fought under his great grandfather’s banner and are known as the Al Ansar.
Looking to Sudan’s future, Mr Al Mahdi predicted that early elections could shorten the 39-month transitional period if the authorities were able to uproot “deep state” Bashir cronies planted throughout different arms of the government.
Opposition leaders have maintained that holding elections before the deep state loyal to Mr Al Bashir is dismantled could allow them to stage a political comeback.
Although the ailing economy remains a pressing concern, negotiating a settlement for the long-running conflicts in the western regions of Darfur and Nuba Mountains as well as Blue Nile in the south could prove difficult before elections in 2022, Mr Al Mahdi said.
“This may not be fully achieved before the forces that emerged from the revolution become political parties, compete in elections and assume executive positions,” he said, explaining that only an electoral mandate could empower protest leaders to conclude peace deals.
Across the country, millions remain displaced by conflict, and their return home must be a priority, he said.
There is also a need to weed out elements loyal to Mr Al Bashir in the armed forces, Mr Al Mahdi said, and some members of the paramilitary forces established by the former leader to fight rebels should be discharged, while the rest are integrated into the military.
Mr Al Mahdi did not elaborate, but he was apparently referring to the Rapid Support Forces, a
That man [Omar Al Bashir] and his regime squandered every chance to escape their grim fate SADIQ AL MAHDI Former Sudanese PM
notorious paramilitary outfit whose origin is in a tribal militia that fought Darfur rebels in the 2000s
The force’s commander is Gen Mohamed Dagalo, the deputy chairman of the Transitional Military Council that replaced Mr Al Bashir.
His well-armed men are stationed throughout Khartoum, something that many regard as evidence that the general has become the strongman of postAl Bashir Sudan.
The power-sharing agreement signed on Saturday stipulates that his force comes under the control of the supreme commander of the armed forces, a proposition that may prove tough to enforce.
“In pursuit of his own security, Al Bashir tore apart the armed forces using every way possible,” said Mr Al Mahdi, whose supporters refer to him as simply the Imam, the Muslim title bestowed on his great grandfather by loyalists.
“But everyone in the armed forces is determined to uproot Al Bashir’s negative legacy.”