The Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) has condemned the growing use of Sudan's national wealth and strategic resources as bargaining chips by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan's authorities to secure weapons, foreign support and political and military leverage.
Sudanese Communist Party Condemns Deals Trading National Resources for Weapons and Foreign Support
In an article published in Al-Midan 4535 on Tuesday, November 3, titled “Wealth and Resources for Weapons,” the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) condemned General Burhan of following the practices of ousted President Omar al-Bashir, trading Sudan's resources and national sovereignty in an attempt to prolong his rule and consolidate his grip on power.
SCP reminded how the al-Bashir regime had offered Russia a military base on the Red Sea coast in exchange for arms and political and military support against the popular movement that eventually overthrew his government during the December Revolution. The party also pointed to the transfer of the Jebel Amer gold mine to the Janjaweed militia as part of an arrangement that provided the militia with resources and influence in exchange for protecting the regime and suppressing resistance in Darfur.
The party lays out that the same practices are now being repeated through different arrangements, including proposals for a free zone and a Russian military base on the Red Sea coast, control over gold mines, and agreements and protocols with Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and Qatar that could open access to agricultural lands, minerals and other strategic resources.
The party described these arrangements as a policy of “bartering national sovereignty for remaining in power,” warning that the country was being treated as spoils to be divided among military power centres and regional and international interests, while the Sudanese population bears the consequences of war, destruction and starvation.
The statement also highlighted a memorandum issued by the Alliance of Radical Change Forces and signed by dozens of political forces, organisations and public figures. The memorandum warned against the warring parties compromising Sudan's sovereignty and plundering its resources through agreements and contracts lacking legitimacy, in an effort to attract foreign supporters and finance the war.
SCP stressed that the authorities in Port Sudan and Nyala lack the popular and constitutional mandate to dispose of the country's resources or conclude binding agreements in the name of the Sudanese people.
SCP reaffirmed that agreements concluded by de facto authorities without popular consent must remain subject to review, cancellation and accountability before constitutional institutions established by the people following the victory of their revolution.
Calling on democratic parties, political forces and friendly peoples and organisations worldwide to stand in solidarity with Sudan, the party urged international pressure to halt the flow of weapons and funding sustaining the conflict. It warned that support for arrangements exchanging Sudanese resources for weapons would prolong the war, deepen its human and economic costs, and undermine the Sudanese people's right to self-determination.
Concluding its statement, the party stressed:
Sudan's wealth belongs to its people, its sovereignty is their inherent right, and its resources are a cornerstone for rebuilding the state and achieving development and social justice, not fuel for power struggles and the bargaining of generals.
SCP reiterated that reclaiming control over the country's resources remains inseparable from ending the war, completing the tasks of the December Revolution and establishing an independent, democratic and civilian Sudan.