The Party for Socialism and Liberation salutes the heroic people of Sudan whose resistance led to the April 11 overthrow of the nearly 30-year-long reign of Omar al-Bashir — and which then toppled his military successor the very next day! Massive demonstrations are continuing to establish a civilian-led interim authority to uproot the old regime and secure the demands of the revolution: freedom, peace and justice.

The Sudanese revolution was sparked by austerity measures that led to huge inflation in the price of essential goods such as bread, compounding years of extreme inequality and the denial of basic democratic rights. Geopolitically, the al-Bashir government had also been moving increasingly into the camp of U.S. imperialism and its junior partners, including Saudi Arabia.

The Sudanese Communist Party is playing an important role in the uprising, alongside other forces that have a wide range of political orientations and social bases. Siddiq Youssef, a senior leader of the Communist Party, said on April 11, “We are ready to talk to the military leaders about the handover of government to a civilian parliament. Since they know that any other solution will be rejected by the opposition, I don’t believe the army will insist on governing. I don’t expect it but in case there is a military parliament established, we will not leave the streets. Our objectives are to establish social justice, progress and the construction of democracy. We reached this point thanks to the experience of our people who kicked the colonialists out.”

After the overthrow of al-Bashir, the Sudanese Communist Party issued the following communication:

Millions of Sudanese people have defied the military curfew and occupied the square in front of the army headquarters. – The forces for Freedom and Change Alliance defy the “military transitional council” and demand the immediate handover of power to the representatives of the people. – al-Bashir is gone, but the regime stays. – What happened during the 11th of April was a classic palace coup. – The people are chanting everywhere: “The Revolution Continues until Final Victory!” – Comrades Alkhateeb (the Political Secretary of the Sudanese Communist Party) and Masoud (member of the Sudanese Communist Party’s Central Committee) are free. Both have visited the party headquarters where they received a standing ovation under the slogan: “Freedom, Peace, Justice; Revolution is the People’s Choice!” – Despite the success of the revolution in removing al-Bashir, who enjoyed the outside support of the Troika (the European Union, the United States and Canada) and local reactionary governments such as Qatar, Egypt and Turkey, and the release of all political detainees, the military remains in power. – This temporary setback will be dealt with through the increased unity and the determination of the masses to roll-back and defeat the present military transitional council – Staging the military coup was a carbon copy of what had happened in Egypt to abort the January 2011 revolution. The Sudanese Communist Party and all the opposition forces are adamant in their resolve to continue the fight until the establishment of a civil government that represent the masses and implement the democratic alternative programme accepted by all the forces, including the Forces of National Consensus, the Sudan Call, the Professionals Alliance and the armed groups.

On April 15, the SCP issued an additional statement “for intensified mass action to thwart ongoing conspiracies hatched by US imperialism and reactionary regional governments”