Sudan’s al-Bashir declares year-long state of emergency

Bloomberg

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir declared a state of emergency for one year and called a national dialogue amid political crisis in the north African country.
“It’s better for all Sudanese to solve any problems through dialogue,” al-Bashir said in a televised address from the capital, Khartoum. “Civil and armed opposition” should come to the dialogue, he said.
The president dissolved the central and regional governments, and asked lawmakers to postpone proposed constitutional amendments that would let him stand for re-election in a scheduled 2020 vote. While “some have exploited the protests to cause hate and violence,” al-Bashir said, “we understand the demands of the youths.”
Before al-Bashir’s speech, his intelligence chief, Salah Gosh, told reporters that the president planned to step down as leader of the ruling National Congress Party, and wouldn’t seek re-election.
Unrest that began in mid-December in response to soaring living costs has posed one of the biggest challenges to al-Bashir, 75, since he seized power in a 1989.
Thousands of Sudanese went to the streets in a fresh wave of protests after speech, chanting anti-al-Bashir slogans, while some demanded that he immediately step down as president.

Professionals Protest
The Sudan Professionals Association, a clandestine group that emerged on the opposition front, is leading a so-called Freedom and Change movement. Protests coincide with an economic crisis that’s hitting the middles class and the poor as fuel, wheat and cash shortages contribute to inflation reaching 70 percent.