KHARTOUM: Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir swore in a new premier on Monday in a bid to ease an economic crisis, and lambasted alleged efforts to “block” his country from foreign markets.
Outgoing irrigation minister Moutaz Mousa Abdallah took the oath of office at the presidential palace, after Bashir fired the incumbent prime minister and cabinet on Sunday.
The 31-member cabinet is to be slashed to just 21 portfolios, as the country grapples with an acute foreign exchange shortage and inflation above 65 percent.
“The current economic situation results from an economic embargo and a plan to block the country from accessing foreign resources,” Bashir said in a televised speech on Monday.
He did not say which country or countries he believed to be behind this alleged plan.
But there is resentment in Sudan that the United States has kept the country on its list of state sponsors of terrorism, despite ending two decades of sanctions in October.
The long trade embargo severely undermined Sudan’s economy, which was dealt another hefty blow when oil-rich South Sudan seceded in 2011.
Sudanese officials say international investors will remain wary of re-engaging, so long as the country remains on the US terror watch list.
Abdallah replaces Bakri Hassan Saleh, who will retain the post of first vice president.
“There’s no need to have a huge government at a time when the people are struggling to afford even basic items,” Bashir said.
“Now we are talking with friends to launch specific projects that would improve the livelihoods of our people and balance Sudan’s economy,” he said.
Food prices have more than doubled since last year on the back of the high inflation rate, while the Sudanese pound has plunged against the US dollar.
“I want to thank the people for their patience even as they faced these economic difficulties,” Bashir added.
“Some thought that these economic difficulties would trigger social tension, but the patience of our people stopped this from happening.”
In January, there were sporadic anti-government protests against food prices, but the authorities swiftly curbed them by arresting opposition leaders and activists.
In September 2013, dozens were killed when anti-austerity protesters clashed with security forces after the government cut fuel subsidies.
The World Bank has urged Sudan to implement structural reforms to revive its ailing economy.
Economic growth averaged over six percent during the decade to 2008, but it has since declined.
The economy grew 3.2 percent in 2017, according to the IMF.
“Our appointments are part of the economic reforms to help President Omar Al-Bashir,” said Mohamed Osman Yousif Kiber, who was sworn in as a vice president on Monday.
“We know the difficulties and what is to be done to resolve the current situation,” he added.
Analysts said Bashir’s cabinet overhaul indicated he was responding to the crisis.
“He realized that the government had failed and that it had no policies to resolve the crisis,” said Khalid Tijani, editor of economic weekly Elaff.
The success of the new cabinet will depend on what policies it formulates and who else is appointed, Tijani added.
“If the same old faces — some of whom have been there for 30 years — return then that would create a negative perception among the people.”
Sudan swears in new PM as Bashir bemoans economic woes
Sudan swears in new PM as Bashir bemoans economic woes
- Bashir fired the incumbent prime minister and cabinet on Sunday
- Moutaz Mousa Abdallah took the oath of office at the presidential palace
Shooter kills 9 at Canadian school and residence
- The shooter was found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound
- A total of 27 people were wounded in the shooting, including two with serious injuries
TORONTO: A shooter killed nine people and wounded dozens more at a secondary school and a residence in a remote part of western Canada on Tuesday, authorities said, in one of the deadliest mass shootings in the country’s history.
The suspect, described by police in an initial emergency alert as a “female in a dress with brown hair,” was found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.
The attack occurred in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, a picturesque mountain valley town in the foothills of the Rockies.
A total of 27 people were wounded in the shooting, including two with serious injuries, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “devastated” by the “horrific acts of violence” and announced he was suspending plans to travel to the Munich Security Conference on Wednesday, where he had been set to hold talks with allies on transatlantic defense readiness.
Police said an alert was issued about an active shooter at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School on Tuesday afternoon.
As police searched the school, they found six people shot dead. A seventh person with a gunshot wound died en route to hospital.
Separately, police found two more bodies at a residence in the town.
The residence is “believed to be connected to the incident,” police said.
At the school, “an individual believed to be the shooter was also found deceased with what appears to be a self?inflicted injury,” police said.
Police have not yet released any information about the age of the shooter or the victims.
“We are devastated by the loss of life and the profound impact this tragedy has had on families, students, staff, and our entire town,” the municipality of Tumbler Ridge said in a statement.
Tumbler Ridge student Darian Quist told public broadcaster CBC that he was in his mechanics class when there was an announcement that the school was in lockdown.
He said that initially he “didn’t think anything was going on,” but started receiving “disturbing” photos about the carnage.
“It set in what was happening,” Quist said.
He said he stayed in lockdown for more than two hours until police stormed in, ordering everyone to put their hands up before escorting them out of the school.
Trent Ernst, a local journalist and a former substitute teacher at Tumbler Ridge, expressed shock over the shooting at the school, where one of his children has just graduated.
He noted that school shootings have been a rarity occurring every few years in Canada compared with the United States, where they are far more frequent.
“I used to kind of go: ‘Look at Canada, look at who we are.’ But then that one school shooting every 2.5 years happens in your town and things... just go off the rails,” he told AFP.
‘Heartbreak’
While mass shootings are extremely rare in Canada, last April, a vehicle attack that targeted a Filipino cultural festival in Vancouver killed 11 people.
British Columbia Premier David Eby called the latest violence “unimaginable.”
Nina Krieger, British Columbia’s minister of public safety, said it was “one of the worst mass shootings in our province’s and country’s history.”
The Canadian Olympic Committee, whose athletes are competing in the 2026 Winter Games in Italy, said Wednesday it was “heartbroken by the news of the horrific school shooting.”
Ken Floyd, commander of the police’s northern district, said: “This has been an incredibly difficult and emotional day for our community, and we are grateful for the cooperation shown as officers continue their work to advance the investigation.”
Floyd told reporters the shooter was the same suspect police described as “female” in a prior emergency alert to community members, but declined to provide any details on the suspect’s identity.
The police said officers were searching other homes and properties in the community to see if there were additional sites connected to the incident.
Tumbler Ridge, a quiet town with roughly 2,400 residents, is more than 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) north of Vancouver, British Columbia’s largest city.
“There are no words sufficient for the heartbreak our community is experiencing tonight,” the municipality said.
