Sudanese security forces on Wednesday arrested Mariam Sadi al-Mahdi the deputy head of the opposition Umma Party Mariam Sadiq al-Mahdi.
Mariam, a medical doctor, is the daughter of Sudan’s last democratically elected prime minister, who now heads the Umma Party.
Mariam’s sister Rabah Sadi al-Mahdi told Reuters that two security vehicles arrived at Mariam’s home on Wednesday morning and whisked her away.
Mariam’s detention comes a day after the troubled North African country’s security chief ordered the release of detained protesters.
Sudanese have been agitating over the economic situation in the country since December last year. It started first as a protest over the price of bread.
But that agitation has been sustained for more than four weeks now. The protests continue to spread across cities in Sudan.
The key demand from the protesters isn’t about prices of bread anymore but an end to the Omar al-Bashir regime.
Al-Bashir must go – University dons
Professors and lecturers of Sudan’s oldest educational institution, University of Khartoum held a sit-in protest on campus against al-Bashir’s government.
Mamduh al-Hassan, the group’s spokesman told AFP news agency that “More than 300 professors and lecturers of the university held a sit-in today inside the campus.”
Five hundred and thirty-one university staff members had already signed and listed several demands including that a transitional government be formed, stressing that al-Bashir is unfit to rule.
So far more than thirty people have been killed with rights groups saying the death toll could even be higher.
On Thursday further protests resulted in three more deaths. Two of the dead were university students. A doctors group says one of the students was hit by a bullet directly to his chest.
Bashir not giving up power
Bashir has already vowed to continue as President and would not be stampeded into leaving office by the ongoing protest.
He told his supporters this month that “There’s only one road to power and that is through the ballot box. The Sudanese people will decide in 2020 who will govern them.”
The Sudanese leader already has plans to run for the presidency for the third time in elections to be held in 2020.
He has also blamed what he calls external conspirators for ongoing anti-government protests.
“Sudan has many enemies and those enemies have few people among us who don’t want stability and security. We will not allow anyone to destroy our homeland by looting and burning our properties,” al-Bashir said.
As the protests continue to spread on a daily basis it is not clear how long he can hold on to power.
al-Bashir came to power in 1989 when he led a group of officers in a military coup that ousted a democratically elected government.
Since then, he has been elected three times as President in elections that have been under scrutiny for corruption.
Source: Africafeeds.com
