What should come after Al-Bashir?

Regime calls for “national dialogue” should be rejected

In the last few months Al-Bashir and his regime have called for a “national dialogue”. However, this has not stopped the repression, whether in Darfur or arresting critics or sentencing an 8 months pregnant woman to death. Most Sudanese people recognise that the regime is dying and its call for the “dialogue” should have been rejected by all political parties that claim to be in the opposition, as it is rejected by the vast majority of the people of Sudan. Al-Bashir’s corrupt regime should be forced to leave office immediately, and be tried for dismissing, torturing and killing people off and for all the war crimes and other human rights violations they have committed since 30 June 1989.

Al-Bashir’s regime accumulated a huge amount of debt, said to be $43billion, borrowed from the international imperialist agencies that went into a few individuals’ pockets and was never used to develop the country’s most needed infrastructure, agricultural or industrial schemes. In fact the agricultural and industrial schemes suffered great losses and nearly collapsed.

The solution to the current crises will never be achieved by prolonging and accommodating Al-Bashir and his corrupt capitalist Islamist minsters and their companies.

Unfortunately, most current political parties and forces have no programme that can end the heightened poverty and raise the standard of living of the poor and workers. This is because they all base themselves on the continuation of capitalism which, by its very nature, is a profit based system that does not allow the planned use of resources in the interests of the mass of the population.

Any appeal to the International community organisations and capitalist governments will never bring the desired solution to the current economic crisis. Notwithstanding any individual criticisms they make, at the end of the day they support, or do not challenge, capitalism. As we have seen again and again in different countries their “aid” requires more austerity measures which will hit the poor and workers harder.

An alternative programme that appeals to the workers and poor peasants, the urban and rural poor, including those who are currently serving in the police and the army, is needed. Sudan is seeing a growing movement of opposition against the government. While the level of mobilisation goes up and down, the government is becoming more isolated. Hence the NCP’s attempts to draw opposition forces into the “dialogue” which would effectively let the present regime continue. But the regime’s days are numbered. However, this in itself poses the question of what comes afterwards?

The NCP’s sinking ship has meant that both imperialism and sections of the ruling class are planning for the future. They hope that they will be able to restrain the movement of the Sudanese people by replacing the NCP’s regime with a new government that will ensure the continuation of capitalist rule. This is why we, as socialists, oppose the idea of some kind of a “consensus” government, because that would mean no fundamental social change, the capitalist representatives in such a government would not agree to breaking with capitalism, the basis of their power.

While supporting the unity of working people and the poor against the Al-Bashir’s regime, we also advocate the building of a movement of the working people and the poor, particularly women and youth that can also be the basis for a government, free from capitalists and oppressors, which can begin the reconstruction of the country. Such a government, based upon democratically elected representatives from all Sudan’s different regions, would ensure the equal utilisation of the wealth of the regions for the benefit of Sudan’s entire population.

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