Sudan's national opposition parties calling for mass demo in Khartoum on Monday

From SRS - Sudan Radio Service December 4, 2009:

(Khartoum, Sudan) – The coalition of national opposition parties is calling for a mass demonstration in Khartoum in front of parliament buildings on Monday.

The coalition says that the move is a protest against the NCP’s delay in passing key security and referendum legislation.

The coalition’s spokesman, Farouk Abu Issa, spoke to SRS from Khartoum on Friday.

[Farouk Abu Issa]:”The brothers and sisters in the coalition of national opposition parties, thought that it was important to take this action, because of the NCP’s reluctance to abolish laws that restrict our freedom, violate the constitution and are contrary to the principles of international human rights. We have decided to organize a mass gathering to express our opposition to this policy which is destroying democracy and the country itself. We have agreed on the time, it will be at 9.30 or 9.00 on Monday morning, and that is the day when the parliament will start its sessions.”

The National Congress Party has described the move as “sign of weakness of the opposition parties”.

A senior NCP member, Dr. Mandor El-Mahdi, speaking to SRS on Monday, described the action as a sign of weakness.

[Dr. Mandor El-Mahdi]: “Thinking of organizing this demonstration is a thinking that shows the weakness and incapability of the opposition parties in Sudan. People know that we have started the elections process and the voter registration exercise is about to come to an end. These parties should be mobilizing people and urging them to join the registration process, and to be prepared for the next step which is the elections stage. But these parties want to create this chaos and disturbance in order to justify why they are intending to boycott the elections.”

GONU has condemned the opposition parties’ plan to organize the demonstration.

The adviser to the GONU Minister of Information, Dr. Rabie Abdullaati, spoke to SRS from Khartoum.

[Dr. Rabie Abdullaati]: “The weird thing is that Farouk Abu Issa is a member of the parliament and many of the people who joined the Juba coalition are MPs. I wonder, these people are members of parliament and it is their responsibility to debate the issue of why the laws are not before parliament, and they are demanding the parliament to intact these laws. So who is demanding what from whom?!”

Dr. Rabie Abdullaati was speaking to SRS from Khartoum on Friday.