SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Financial Times - Sudan faces hard road to democracy as revolutionary euphoria fades
David Pilling’s feature piece explores the “[fading] revolutionary euphoria among Sudan’s public”.
Journalist Osman Mirghani blames Prime Minister Hamdok’s “indecisiveness” for the military’s power.
Human rights lawyer Nabil Adib cites “achievements” including a more liberal atmosphere promoting “freedom of expression,” but blames the Forces of Freedom and Change coalition’s “unneccesary squabbling” for the failure to nominate a parliament.
Protester Muzan Alneel said the government is reverting to “failed [neo-liberal] economic recipes” including the gradual removal of subsidies. However, businessman Mo Ibrahim called for the government to do a better job explaining that fuel subsidies “mostly benefit the small proportion of the population that owns cars and generators.” Hamdok’s chief of staff Amjed Farid said the government plans to introduce a temporary basic income of about $5 per head per month for a substantial portion of the population, “though many worry the safety net will arrive too late,” notes Pilling.