Bashir rejects calls for resignation, says protests 'will not change government'
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has rejected calls for his resignation, saying weeks of protests over a worsening economic crisis in the northeast African country will not lead to a change in the government.
"Demonstrations will not change the government. We have an economic problem and it is not solved via vandalism," Bashir told his supporters at a rally in the war-ravaged region of Darfur on Monday.
"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,” he added.
Bashir, who is planning to run for the presidency for the third time in next year’s elections, also said, "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.”
During a rally in the capital Khartoum last week, the Sudanese president challenged his opponents to beat him at the ballot box and blamed unnamed foreign powers for provoking weeks of unrest in the country.
In the initial protests, which started in December in towns and villages before spreading to Khartoum, several buildings of Bashir's ruling National Congress Party were torched.
Sudan has been gripped by mass protests triggered by rising prices and shortages of food and fuel since December 19. The public display of anger later escalated into calls for Bashir to go.
Sudan’s economy has stagnated for most of Bashir’s 30-year rule. He has also failed to keep peace in the religiously and ethnically diverse country, losing three-quarters of Sudan’s oil wealth when South Sudan seceded in 2011 following a referendum.
Inflation is currently running at 70 percent and the Sudanese pound has plunged in value.
Authorities have declared curfews and states of emergency in several states. Residents say Sudanese security forces have used live ammunition to disperse protesters.
According to Amnesty International, Sudan's security forces have shot dead at least 40 protesters but the government has put the death toll at 24, including two security forces personnel.
Rights groups say more than 1,000 people have been arrested since the protests began, including opposition leaders, activists and journalists as well as demonstrators.
UN warns hundreds of thousands of Sudanese under ‘immediate danger’
UN chief says attacks against civilians in Sudan could constitute ‘war crimes’
Aid groups warn of looming famine in Sudan
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