Sudan: National Congress Party Condemns Authorities' Move to Dissolve It

Thousands of Sudanese rallied late last month in several cities, urging the new authorities to dissolve the former ruling party. AFP
Thousands of Sudanese rallied late last month in several cities, urging the new authorities to dissolve the former ruling party. AFP
TT
20

Sudan: National Congress Party Condemns Authorities' Move to Dissolve It

Thousands of Sudanese rallied late last month in several cities, urging the new authorities to dissolve the former ruling party. AFP
Thousands of Sudanese rallied late last month in several cities, urging the new authorities to dissolve the former ruling party. AFP

Ousted President Omar al-Bashir's party on Friday condemned what it described as new "illegal government" for ordering its closure and the dismantling of the regime.

The National Congress Party accused the authorities of trying to confiscate NCP properties to help tackle Sudan's economic crisis, which it said the new government had failed to tackle.

"To rely on the assets of the party, if there are any, is nothing more than a moral scandal, an act of intellectual bankruptcy and a total failure on the part of the illegal government," the Islamist NCP said on its Facebook page.

Sudan's new authorities ordered earlier on Thursday that the party of Bashir be dissolved and his regime be "dismantled", heeding the call of protesters whose campaign led to the leader's overthrow.

Bashir and his party had ruled the northeast African country since 1989 before a nationwide protest movement resulted in him being deposed earlier this year.

The country's new ruling sovereign council and the cabinet led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok made the decision to dissolve the party, approving a law titled "Dismantling of the regime of 30th June 1989," AFP reported.

"The National Congress Party is dissolved and its registration is cancelled from the list of political parties in Sudan," the decree said, adding that a committee would be formed to confiscate all its properties and assets.

"None of the symbols of the regime or party would be allowed to engage in any political activity for 10 years".

The dissolution of the party was "not a revenge" against the country's former rulers, Hamdok wrote on Twitter.

"But it aims to preserve the dignity of Sudanese people which was crushed by dishonest people."

"This law aims to recover the plundered wealth of the people."

Wajdi Salah, a spokesman of the umbrella protest movement Forces of Freedom and Change, said on his Facebook page that the old regime party would be dismantled completely.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, the protest group that had initially led the demonstrations against Bashir, praised the decision to dismantle the former regime.

"It is a major step towards achieving the goal of the revolution and on the path of building a democratic civilian state," the SPA said in a statement.

Thousands of Sudanese rallied late last month in several cities, urging the new authorities to dissolve the former ruling party.

According to AFP, Bashir is being held in a prison in Khartoum facing trial on charges of corruption.

Several other officials of his government and senior party members are also in jail.



Tunisia Activists Launch Gaza-bound Convoy in 'Symbolic Act'

 Tunisians gather at a meeting point in Tunis on June 9, 2025, ahead of the departure of a land convoy named “Steadfastness” to break the siege on Gaza. (AFP)
Tunisians gather at a meeting point in Tunis on June 9, 2025, ahead of the departure of a land convoy named “Steadfastness” to break the siege on Gaza. (AFP)
TT
20

Tunisia Activists Launch Gaza-bound Convoy in 'Symbolic Act'

 Tunisians gather at a meeting point in Tunis on June 9, 2025, ahead of the departure of a land convoy named “Steadfastness” to break the siege on Gaza. (AFP)
Tunisians gather at a meeting point in Tunis on June 9, 2025, ahead of the departure of a land convoy named “Steadfastness” to break the siege on Gaza. (AFP)

Hundreds of people, mainly Tunisians, launched on Monday a land convoy bound for Gaza, seeking to "break the siege" on the Palestinian territory, activists said.

Organizers said the nine-bus convoy was not bringing aid into Gaza, but rather aimed at carrying out a "symbolic act" by breaking the blockade on the territory described by the United Nations as "the hungriest place on Earth".

The "Soumoud" convoy, meaning "steadfastness" in Arabic, includes doctors and aims to arrive in Rafah, in southern Gaza, "by the end of the week", activist Jawaher Channa told AFP.

It is set to pass through Libya and Egypt, although Cairo has yet to provide passage permits, she added.

"We are about a thousand people, and we will have more join us along the way," said Channa, spokeswoman of the Tunisian Coordination of Joint Action for Palestine, the group organizing the caravan.

"Egypt has not yet given us permission to cross its borders, but we will see what happens when we get there," she said.

Channa said the convoy was not set to face issues crossing Libya, "whose people have historically supported the Palestinian cause", despite recent deadly clashes in the country that remains divided between two governments.

Algerian, Mauritanian, Moroccan and Libyan activists were also among the group, which is set to travel along the Tunisian and Libyan coasts, before continuing on to Rafah through Egypt.

After 21 months of war, Israel is facing mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza to alleviate widespread shortages of food and basic supplies.

On June 1, the Madleen aid boat, boarded by activists including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and European parliament member Franco-Palestinian Rima Hassan, set sail for Gaza from Italy.

But on Monday morning Israel intercepted it, preventing it from reaching the Palestinian territory.

The UN has warned that the Palestinian territory's entire population is at risk of famine.