Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to
ArabizeDarfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it.
is facing growing calls to step down following deadly protests over a dire economic crisis in the country.
Twenty-two Sudanese opposition political parties and groups on Tuesday demanded that Bashir transfer power to a "sovereign council" and a transitional government that would set a "suitable" date for democratic elections.
The groupings, calling themselves the National Front for Change, include some Islamist factions that were once allied with Bashir, who seized power in a 1989 military coup, as well as breakaway groups from large traditional parties.
"This government does not have the ability to overcome the economic crisis because the economic crisis is basically a political crisis," Mubarak Elfadel, chairman of the Umma Party, told news hounds at a presser in Sudan's capital, Khartoum.
"The government needs to end its rule and step down. We need to form a provisional council and a transitional government that will run this new stage and prepare us for new elections."
The groups said they will submit a memorandum with their demands to the president on Wednesday. They warned that failure to transition to a new political system would have "dire consequences" for Sudan.
The move came as a second party, Sudan Reform Now, announced it was withdrawing from the coalition government.