Delegates to the Communist Party of Canada’s 39th Central Convention send greetings of solidarity to the people of Sudan, who are waging a massive struggle for better living standards, democracy and progressive social change.
This historic uprising for freedom began with huge protests last December and continue up to the present. Mass demonstrations have been held by the Sudanese Professionals’ Association – an umbrella group including trade unions, doctors associations and the Sudanese Communist Party – demanding civilian rule. The struggle is now focused against the Military Transitional Council (MTC) government that seized power after the dictator Omar al-Bashir was brought down in April. The military administration is the result of imperialism’s efforts to block the revolutionary impulse of the people.
Many Sudanese Communists, including half of the Central Committee, were jailed and tortured by the dictatorship, and others were killed in the mass demonstrations and confrontations with the military. Knowing that the Sudanese Communists enjoy wide popular support, imperialism and its reactionary allies in Sudan are desperate to isolate the Party, and to defeat this momentous uprising. The Military Council has done nothing to dismantle the repressive apparatus of the former regime, or to arrest even a single figure or disband any of its militias which continue their open threats against the democratic forces.
A new round of repression came last week, after a breakthrough in negotiations, with an agreement on the structure of a joint administration to lead Sudan to democracy. Talks about a new transitional administration were suspended for 72 hours as the MTC resorted to the same methods as the previous regime, violently attacking protesters in central Khartoum on the night of May 16. The square close to Sudan’s military headquarters has been occupied for weeks by activists demanding an end to military rule and for power to pass to a civilian-led transitional government which would oversee democratic elections.
At this critical moment, the Communist Party of Canada pledges to expand our solidarity with the democratic movement, including our comrades of the Sudanese Communist Party. This struggle has the potential to inflict a serious blow against imperialism and reactionary forces throughout the region, and we will do everything in our power to help the Sudanese people win freedom and full democracy.
Special Resolution of the 39th Central Convention of the Communist Party of Canada, May 17-20, 2019.