Sudanese opposition forces call for nationwide strike

KHARTOUM, May 21 (KUNA) -- The Sudanese Professionals Association, which leads street protests, called on Tuesday for nationwide strike after talks with the Military Council on forming a consensus ruling body ended in failure.
The association said in a statement, "The Army insists on leading the interim period and demands appointing majority of the (aspired) sovereign council members from the military." These demands neither facilitate change nor manifest the revolution, it said, urging Sudanese to prepare for civil disobedience and general political strike throughout the country.
The Transitional Military Council declared, earlier on Tuesday, failure to reach an accord on forming a sovereign council, indicating that the talks with the civil society representatives snagged over representation allocations and the council chairmanship.
Nevertheless, the military leaders affirmed intention to continue the efforts for "an urgent and satisfactory deal that could meet the Sudanese people aspirations and attain goals of the glorified December revolution." Moreover, the military council statement indicated that the technical military and civil committees would pursue their tasks toward conciliation.
The two parties declared, earlier today, that an accord would be inked in 24 hours after thrashing out up to 90 percent of contentious issues, partly related to the council jurisdictions and other topics such as the transitional rule mandate, reportedly set at three years.
They have reportedly reached common ground on establishing a legislative assembly of 300 members, with 67 percent of them representing "the forces of change," with 33 percent of the seats to be allocated for the "other forces." However, the political efforts have been overshadowed with recurring street violence.
The Sudanese Army ousted the veteran leader, Omar Al-Bashir, on April 11, amid nationwide protests over poor living conditions, that broke out on December 19.
The disturbances have peaked with an ongoing sit-in in front of the defense ministry headquarters. (end) mam.rk