New Sudanese dawn

Opinion

FINALLY, the national wisdom upheld by Sudanese opposition leaders and transitional military council has paid off.

Sudan is now far from plunging into civil war which seemed eminent several weeks ago. They are on the verge of signing a transitional deal as a preliminary step towards rebuilding the country destroyed by the ‘Brotherhood’ dictatorship of the ousted President Omar Hassan Al-Basheer who had been weakening the country over the last three decades.

During his reign, he suppressed national competent individuals who have proven in the last six months that they are able to move with the country towards the economic and political future which suits Sudan.

Undoubtedly in the Arab world and Africa, everyone realized the significance of this major country which had the potential of becoming a great regional economy if it did not fall prey to coups throughout the last 62 years which led to the emergence of separatist movements in the South, Darfur and other places. These coups also crippled development and resulted in tensed relations with other countries in Africa and the Arab world.

In the last three decades, these coups made Sudan enter the hot terrorist zone due to political recklessness and monopoly of the economy, starting with the ousted president sheltering Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda Organization. Such acts led the country towards the pathway of smuggled weapons for other terrorist groups operating in Egypt, Libya and other places in Africa.

Members of terrorist group ‘DAESH’ were preparing to send a large number of its fighters to Sudan due to the security vacuum which started to loom over the horizon in the recent populist uprising.

All this vanished with the ouster of Al-Basheer. The Sudanese proved their commitment to veer their country away from the path which Libya, Syria, Iraq and other Arab countries took towards darkness; especially where the terrorist groups are operating, owing to the rationality of the opposition that thwarted the plan and discipline of the military in terms of not seeking power.

The recent uprising was void of partisan greed for power. It was not a cover for the military to cling on to power. This uprising is similar to that of Egypt in 2013 when its military took the side of the people to face the ‘Brotherhood’ terrorist oppression rule.

Without a doubt, Sudan has a wide investment horizon. It has natural, agricultural and animal resources which qualify it to be the ‘basket’ of the Arab world, and an important regional player in development and the economy.

Now that the transitional process has started, it is imperative to lay down a comprehensive Arab investment plan in order to pull this country out of its predicament; and then close the chapter of coups and conflicts – burdens on the shoulders of the country and its people due to the rising poverty rate.

We have to praise the position of those supporting the stability provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and other Arab countries to Sudan; and their commitment to support Sudan financially and to stand by it during difficult times caused by the previous regime.

All that remains to be said is: The recent uprising has proven that Sudan has people with high level of competence, awareness and commitment to their country. They benefited from the experiences of others and learned moral lessons from others.

Hence, despite the delayed materialization of the agreement, it is an important turn in the history of this great country. In fact, it is the path towards the new Sudanese dawn.