Communists Help Col. Nimeiri to Seize Power
In
May 1969, the then Officer-in-Command of the Khartoum garrison, Col.
(later Field-Marshal) Jaafar Mohammed al-Nimeiri (also spelt
"Numeiry"), with the help of communist soldiers and civilians, staged a
coup and seized power. With the connivance of the Sudanese Communist
Party, Nimeiri banned all political parties. But the Sudanese Communist
Party continued to function with covert countenance of Nimeiri-who had
also appointed several communists in his cabinet (the Revolutionary
Command Council). Nimeiri needed the support of the communists because
he was facing fierce opposition from the anti-communist Sadiq al-Mahdi
and his many followers.
In the first two years of his rule. President Nimeiri pursued socialist
policies. He founded his own political party, the Sudanese Socialist
Union (SSU). His government nationalised private companies in scores,
and forged closer ties with Communist countries.
In March 1970, the conservatives, led by the aristocratic Mahdi clan,
mustered some 30,000 men for a showdown with Nimeiri. The Sudanese army
routed the rebels. With the defeat of the conservatives, the strongest
enemy of the rule of Nimeiri was hamstrung. Next, Nimeiri had to get
rid of the communists, albeit at a high cost.
National Movements and New States in Africa