November 27, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, leader of Sudan’s opposition National Umma Party (NUP), has accused the government of abusing oil revenues, warning that growing dissent and continued absence of reforms could lead to a revolution.

Sudan’s former Prime Minister and NUP leader Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi (By RNW Radio Netherlands Worldwide)

Sudan has been struggling with an economic crisis since it lost 75 percent of the oil revenues on which the country heavily relied after South Sudan seceded in July.

In an effort to contain the situation, the government introduced a set of austerity measures including cuts on subsidies and state spending.

However, these measures did little to mitigate the worsening economic conditions felt by citizens as the ensuing discontent gave rise to a number of protests and increased dissent.

Addressing a symposium organized on Sunday by his party in the capital Khartoum, Al-Mahdi painted a grim picture of the country’s economy, describing it as a “nightmare” which requires urgent and extraordinary measures to address.

The former prime minister criticized the way in which the government handled oil revenues, saying that rather than spending them on infrastructure, the regime opted for wasting them on bloating the administrative system by increasing the number of states and localities as well as state spending in order to consolidate its grip on power.

Al-Mahdi suggested that Sudan’s oil sector lacked transparency and discipline, referring to repeated documentation by the general auditor of embezzlements in the oil sector.

He grew scathing as he accused the government of failing to create alternatives for oil revenues despite the fact that South Sudan’s secession was widely foreseen.

“Now it [the government] is asking the Sudanese people to wait for three years until alternatives are materialized,” he remarked, adding that the current “disorder” is a direct result of the ruling party’s “policy of economic consolidation and using money to accommodate political patrons.”

Al-Mahdi warned that the continuation of the current system without change or reforms risks thrusting Sudan to the scene of the Arab Spring, pointing out that armed groups in the war-battered regions of Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile as well as anti-government youth groups were pushing for confrontation with the regime.

“These movements cannot be suppressed militarily, and if no preemptive actions are taken, they will prevail” he cautioned.

Al-Mahdi raps fellow opposition party for joining government

The NUP leader appeared to be leveling veiled criticism at the opposition Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) which agreed to join the new NCP government, saying that any attempt to gloss the current system with “decorative participations” is doomed to fail.

Al-Mahdi’s NUP decided not accept NCP’s offer to participate in the new government and vowed to adopt “civil disobedience” as a mean to oppose the government.

The DUP’s leader Mohamed Osman Al-Mirghani said his party’s decision to join the government was dictated by “national responsibility.”

(ST)