At a neighbourhood forum on a hot Khartoum evening, there is a preview of Sudan’s potential political
future.
Samahir Mubarak, a 28-year-old pharmacist-turned revolutionary leader, lectures on a stage draped in
Sudanese flags
Talks about Sudan’s political future have dragged on in part because the junta has demanded control over
the next government and wants immunity for the many crimes it is accused of, including a 3 June massacre
that killed more than 100 people, and the rap-sheet of allegations during the genocide in Darfur.
The image which came to define Sudan’s civil
unrest (Twitter)The civilian negotiators are willing to accept that, but many protesters are not. Mubarak is one of the most
prominent faces of Sudan’s new political era, and she is considering a career in politics.
“We are hopefully going into a new democratic era. Political parties need to reorganise by involving more
people, and there is no way you are going to get the votes of women if their views are not going to be
represented,” Mubarak says.
For the first time Mubarak can remember, a majority of speakers that night are women.
Mubarak does not like to plan her speeches in detail, but prefers to feed off the energy of the audience in
front of her.
“I rely on my instinct,” Mubarak says. “I think it is genetic because my mum is good.”
Mubarak believes that women will naturally rise up into political leadership positions in a new democratic
era that rewards parties for broader membership. But others are taking a more immediate approach.
Protesters, largely women, demonstrated outside the SPA headquarters on Saturday to demand more
representation in the country’s political future.
When they grew up and fought in this regime, it was by being women who fit into society. But for us, living
in this environment has been very repressive
Listening to Mubarak speak are a few hundred men in clean white jalabiyas. The robed men sit on one side
in thin plastic chairs, and a handful of women sit on the other. This well-off neighbourhood used to be a
staunch supporter of Bashir and his regime, but after Mubarak is done speaking she is crowded by admirers.