During 1955 southern members of the National Assembly were demanding that a plebiscite (referendum) be held under the United Nations, but neither Azhari nor the British would allow this. There was also discontent about the economic neglect of the south.
–THE LIBRARIAN–
On the 19th December 1955 the Sudanese National Assembly voted for independence. On the 1st January 1956 the Republic of the Sudan came into being. Later on 19th January 1956, the Sudan was admitted to the UN…
Southern members of the National Assembly had voted with Azhari for independence, because they had been promised that ‘full consideration’ would be given for their claim for federal status for the south. The southerners soon became disillusioned and disappointed with the Azhari government, but they should not have expected much, as at the beginning of 1955…
Azhari had toured the south in attempts to dampen down the desire for federal status and to counter the growing popularity of the Southern Party’s political platform. His views on the matter was never disguised, and he later stated that ‘the Sudan should be one unit on the basis of the decision arrived at during the Juba conference of 1947’. During 1955 southern members of the National Assembly were demanding that a plebiscite (referendum) be held under the United Nations, but neither Azhari nor the British would allow this. There was also discontent about the economic neglect of the south.
The post-World War II cotton boom had brought large profits to the Sudan and much of the money was spent on agricultural, irrigation and other development projects …in the north… Continued southern disappointment, complaints and demands for federal status led Premier Azhari on 19th December 1956, as a sop, to pass a resolution in the National Assembly which promised a form of federation to the south and to set up a constitutional committee to examine and report upon the possibility of a federal structure. But of the 46 members only three were southerners who were always hopelessly outvoted…
Once the constitutional committee had rejected the possibility of federation in December 1957, the Southern Bloc began to make serious contact with the African (as opposed to the Arab) people in the north…to encourage them to demand the right to manage their own affairs. A good response came from the beja, Fur, Nuba and Funj. The idea of federation spread…
In the early hours of 17th November 1958 armoured vehicles surrounded Khartoum, soldiers occupied the airport, radio station and other government buildings… It was a bloodless coup led by Brigadier Ibrahim Abboud.
Source : Edgar O’Balance- The Secret War in the Sudan.
