57th years have gone by since the Sudan had become an independent, sovereign country, free from colonial rule and custodianship. In this period, many political developments have taken place.

Covering these events represents a process where the past is examined to benefit from it in handling present issues and prepare for future events.

 

Sudanese political scene swarmed with activity provoked by the awareness of occupation. This culminated in forming the Graduates Club, the Khatmiya Sect which gave birth to the Democratic Unionist Party, and Ansar Sect which gave birth to 

National Umma Party.

The Graduates Club stirred things up by sending a memorandum to the Governor General of Sudan protesting the state of political affairs in Sudan on April 3rd 1943. This led the colonial rulers to change their mind about involving the Sudanese in different governance levels.

This era was characterized by debates among the political forces about a number of issues, the most prominent of which was whether to form a union with Egypt or become an independent country.

Britain wanted to disengage from the joint Egyptian British rule of Sudan which started in 1899; therefore it encouraged the pro-independence trend whose efforts finally culminated in the independence of Sudan in January of 1956.

Ismail Alazhari declared the independence of Sudan and formed the first national government becoming the first Sudanese premier. Alazhari opted for total independence to resolve the debate raging then about whether to become a part of Egypt or not. Alazhari opted for total independence heavy pressures on Alazhari from Egypt and its allies from Sudanese political parties to choose union with Egypt. Southern politicians were also unhappy with the size of their representation in government.

However, Azhari's government collapsed as a result of these pressures and Abdallah Khalil formed the second national government with support from Imam Abdulrahman Almahdi, leader of Ansar Sect.

As a result of the pressures exercised by Azhari on Abdallah Khlail's government to have his party back in power, Abdallah Khalil's government collapsed as well. Rebellion in South Sudan intensified and National Umma Party's government, the one formed by Abdallah Khalil, became under more pressure and Khalil, being under these various pressures, handed over power to the Commander General of the Sudanese army Lt. General Ibrahim Abood who became the first president of a military government in 1958. This military rule was overthrown in a popular uprising in 1964 and civil government was formed again.

Following the collapse of Abood's government, political forces formed a transitional government headed by Sir Alkhatim Alkhalifa to organize elections and steer the country into the rule of democracy anew.

In the wake of elections an alliance government was formed headed by Mohammed Ahmed Almahjoub in the beginning, and a second one headed by Al-Sadig Al-Mahdi, thus entering the political scene head on, by holding the premier's office from 1965-1969 and his government was overthrown by in 1969 by the army turning the country into its second military rule era.

In May 25th 1969 Gaffar Nimeiri declared a military government headed by him which remained in power until April 6th 1985 when a popular uprising erupted paving the way for a second transitional period in which an interim government was formed under Field Marshal Abdulrhaman Swar Aldahab to run the country and supervise the third democratic transformation process in the country.

This era began in 1986 following the majority ballot electoral win of National Umma Party led by Imam Al-Sadig Al-Mahdi who, for the second time, became prime minister. This era was characterized by political and security unrest and in addition, South Sudan crisis escalated. This period went on until 1989.

Governance in Sudan was always in ebb and flow between civil and military rule. On June 30th 1989, Brigadier, then, Omer Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir declared a military government. This government is by far the longest lasting government in power of all civil and military governments. This government also managed to transform from being a totalitarian government to a multiparty government and persuaded high-level political leaders, some of which the government had past disputes with, to return to Sudan including: Gaafer Nimeiri, Al-Sadig Al-Mahdi, and Mohammed Osman Almerghani. It is now well into its 24th year.

The crisis started before the first national government was in power. Southerners protested the size of their representation in government (6 politicians). The Round Table Conference was held with 24 Southern leaders present as the first attempt to realize peace and put out the rebellion which broke out in 1955.

Decisions were taken during the Abood rule to end the crisis. These decisions included opening new schools, expelling missionaries, setting Friday as the weekend instead of Sunday, a thing which led southerners to move their rebel activity to neighboring African countries.

The Addis Ababa agreement signed in 1972 was another attempt to resolve the crisis. Successive governments remained in pursuit of a solution until the advent of the National Salvation government which kept pursuing a solution since 1990 through a number of agreements with southerners, the most prominent of which was the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005. The agreement gave southerners the right to decide their destiny through referendum in 2011. The referendum was carried out in January of 2011 and resulted in the secession of South Sudan by a percentage of 98%. On July 9th 2011, South Sudan was officially declared an independent country.

By Mohamed Abdallah