Sudan to dissolve Bashir party, ‘dismantle’ regime

Sudanese transitional authorities approved a law on Thursday to dissolve the former ruling party and repealed a public order law used to regulate women’s behaviour under ex-president Omar al-Bashir, the justice minister said.

The two measures responded to key demands by a protest movement that helped overthrow Bashir in April.

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Their implementation will be a crucial test of how far transitional authorities are willing or able to go to overturn nearly three decades of rule by Bashir, who took power in a 1989 coup and whose Islamist movement penetrated deep into Sudan’s institutions.

The law to dissolve Bashir’s National Congress Party (NCP) also allows for the party’s assets to be seized, Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdelbari said. State TV described it as a measure to “dismantle” the former regime.

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), which spearheaded the protests against Bashir, welcomed the law.

“It is an important step on the path to building a democratic civilian state,” the group said in a statement.

Under Bashir, the public order law was deployed to impose conservative Islamic social codes, restricting women’s freedom of dress, movement, association, work and study.

This could include preventing women from wearing trousers or leaving their hair uncovered in public, or mixing with men other than their husbands or an immediate relative.

Those found to have contravened the law could be punished with flogging.

Women played a prominent role in months of protests against Bashir.

Women’s rights activist Hadia Hasaballah said the repeal of the law showed the failure of Islamist ideology.

“The decision to abolish the public order law is a culmination of the courageous struggles of women for 30 years,” she told Reuters. “Women martyrs deserve it.”