CLASS AND POWER IN SUDAN Also by Tim Niblock SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE ARAB GULF (editor) STATE, SOCIETY AND ECONOMY IN SAUDI ARABIA (editor) IRAQ: THE CONTEMPORARY STATE. (editor) PROSPECTS FOR THE WORLD OIL INDUSTRY (editor with Richard Lawless) Class and Power in Sudan The Dynamics of Sudanese Politics, 1898-1985 Tim Niblock Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern Politics University of Exeter M MACMILLAN PRESS ©Tim Niblock 1987 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1987 978-0-333-41976-2 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 1987 Published by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Niblock, Timothy Class and power in Sudan: the dynamics of Sudanese politics, 1898-1985. 1. Sudan-Social conditions I. Title 962.4'03 HN787.A8 ISBN 978-1-349-08838-6 ISBN 978-1-349-08836-2 (eBook) DOl 10.1007/978-1-349-08836-2 To Rida who helped me understand the bountiful and generous Sudanese people Contents List of Tables and Figures xi Preface xiv Introduction xv 1 The Development of the Economy up to 1930 1 I Before 1898 1 II Determining the direction of economic development after 1898 11 III The inception of the cotton schemes 13 IV Other economic developments 19 2 Economic Developments 1930-56 22 I The re-investment of accumulated capital 22 II The government sector: administration and services 24 III The government sector: productive investment 25 IV The private sector: investment in pump schemes 31 V The private sector: investment in mechanised farming in the rainlands 36 VI The private sector: investment in real estate, commerce and petty manufacturing 40 VII The economic position in 1956 45 3 Social Forces under the Condominium 49 I Introduction 49 II Reinvestment and the economic elite 50 (a) Religious leaders 50 (b) Tribal leaders 52 (c) Merchants (traders) 54 (d) Higher civil servants and professionals 59 (e) Composition of policy-making bodies: representation of the economic elite in the Legislative Assembly and the first Parliament 60 III Social structure: the size and character of socio-economic groupings 81 (a) Peasants 81 vii Vlll Contents (b) Nomads 84 (c) Tenant farmers 85 (d) Rural labourers 89 (e) Urban workers 90 (f) Salariat 92 (g) Merchants 94 (h) Class structure 96 Appendix: The Sufi religious orders (Turuq) 99 4 Social Movements, Regional Movements and Administrative Organisation, 1898-1956 107 I Social movements and organisations 107 (a) The labour movement 107 (b) The tenants' movement 122 (c) The student movement 125 (d) The women's movement 133 (e) The military 137 II Regional movements and organisations 143 (a) The basis of inequality 143 (b) Regional movements in northern Sudan 147 (c) The regional movement in southern Sudan 149 III The administrative system 159 5 Sudanese Nationalism and the Attainment of Independence 160 I Introduction 160 II Primary resistance 162 III The 1924 Uprising 163 IV The creation of quasi-political groupings around establishment figures, 1920s and 1930s 169 V The Literary Study Groups, late 1920s and 1930s 180 VI The re-emergence of a nationalist movement: the Graduates' Congress and the development of political parties, 1938-46 185 VII The rise of a radical nationalist movement, 1945-56 198 VIII The transition to independence 202 6 The Dynamics of Post-Independence Politics, 1956-69 204 I Perspective 204 II 1956-8: The first parliamentary period 206 Contents ix (a) The emergence of the National Unionist Party as a secular nationalist movement 206 (b) Changing electoral rules and the 1958 elections 211 (c) The South 212 III 1958--64: the 'Abbud regime 217 (a) The assumption of power by the military 217 (b) Civilian representation 222 (c) The South 223 IV 1964-9: the second parliamentary period 225 (a) The rise and fall of the transitional government, and subsequent developments 225 V The economy 231 7 Politics and Economy under the Nimairi Regime, 1969-85 233 I The overall pattern 233 II The free officers' movement and the seizure of power 234 (a) Origins of the free officers' movement: the 1950s 235 (b) Development of a new free officers' movement in the 1960s and the 1969 coup 236 III Programmes for social and economic change, 1969-71 242 IV The failure to maintain the progressive alliance, 1969-71 249 V The political institutions of the regime, post-1971 256 VI Political dynamics affecting the roles of the political institutions 262 VII Popular participation: the Sudan Socialist Union 267 VIII The pursuit of national unity: regional autonomy in the southern Sudan 272 IX Economic policy and achievement 279 X The dynamics of the Nimairi regime's disintegration 287 Epilogue 290 Notes 293 x Contents Appendix 337 Glossary of Arabic Terms 358 Index 360 List of Tables and Figures TABLES 2.1 Government Education Statistics, 1956 25 2.2 Medical Statistics 26 2.3 Numbers of Lorries and Trucks Registered, 1956 43 2.4 Output of Manufacturing Industry in Sudan, 1955/56 44 3.1 World Exports of Gum Arabic 56 3.2 Livestock Exports in Selected Years 57 3.3 Oilseed Exports, Selected Years 58 3.4 Social Backgrounds of the Members of the Advisory Council for Northern Sudan, 1944-7 61 3.5 Social Backgrounds of the Members of the Legislative Assembly, 1948-53 62 3.6 Social Backgrounds of the Members of the First Parliament, 1954-8 66 3. 7 Numbers of Members of the First Parliament Associated with Tribal or Religious Leadership, or Who Worked as Merchants or Senior Government Officials 80 3.8 Numbers of Tenant Farmers on Irrigated Land, 1955 86 3.9 Urban Workers in Sudan, 1955/56 91 3.10 Numbers of Salaried Personnel, Classified by Type of Employment 1955/56 93 3.11 Classification of Types of Merchants, 1955/56 96 4.1 Cost of Living Indices for Sudanese with Monthly Incomes of Less Than £12 110 4.2 Man-days Lost Through Strikes, 1947-53 (government sector only) 117 4.3 Numbers of Students at Gordon Memorial College, 1920-44 125 4.4 Student Intake and Graduation at the Kitchener School of Medicine, 1924-43 127 4.5 Educational Development in Northern Sudan (Government Education): Number of Pupils Attending Schools in 1936, 1944, 1948 and 1956 128 4.6 Higher Education: Number of Students, 1942-56 129 xi xii List of Tables and Figures 4.7 Expansion of Girls' Elementary Education (Government Sector), 1919-56 134 4.8 Composition of the Egyptian Army Units in Sudan by National Grouping, November 1924 139 4.9 1924 Schedule for Reducing Size of Armed Forces, 1924-7 142 4.10 Regional Distribution of Gross Domestic Investment, 1955/56 145 4.11 Regional Distribution of Gross Domestic Product, 1955/56 146 5.1 List of Signatories to the Petition of Sound Elements, June 1924 175 5.2 Holders of Official Posts in the Graduates' Congress, 1938 to July 1940 190 6.1 Seats Gained in the 1953 Elections for the House of Representatives, by Province (Territorial Constituencies only) 208 6.2 Increases in Constituencies in Northern Sudan Between the 1953 and 1958 Elections, by Province 213 6.3 Votes Won and Seats Gained in the 1958 House of Representatives Elections, by Province (Northern Sudan only) 214 6.4 Overall Result of the 1958 Elections 215 6.5 Occupational/Social Backgrounds of Central Council Members, 1963 223 6.6 Distribution of Seats after the 1965 Elections 229 6.7 Official Election Results, 1968 230 7.1 Activities Undertaken by Functioning Basic Unit Committees 269 7.2 Public Sector Investment Pattern, 1965-75 281 A.1 Annual Government Revenue and Expenditure, 1899-1956 337 A.2 Summary of Central and Local Government Revenue and Expenditure, 1908-1955/56 339 A.3 Functional Classification of Central and Local Government Current and Capital Expenditure, 1955/56 340 A.4 Progress of Pump Irrigation, pre-1920-1963 341 A.5 Progress of Pump Irrigation Schemes, pre-1920-1963, by Provinces 342 List of Tables and Figures xiii A.6 Classification of the Sudanese Population's Occupational Status, 1955/56 344 A.7 The Economic Returns of the Gezira Scheme to the Sudan Government, 1926--50 350 A.8 The Economic Returns of the Gezira Scheme to the Tenants, 1926--50 352 A.9 The Economic Returns of the Gezira Scheme to the Syndicate Companies, 1926--50 354 A.lO Composition of GDP by Economic Sectors, 1955/56--1973/74 356 A.ll Sudan's Exports, Imports and Balance of Trade, 1970-80 356 A.12 Medium- and Long-term External Public Debt and Debt Service Payments, 1976--81 357 FIGURES 1.1 General Map of Sudan, Showing pre-1978 Provinces xx 7.1 Structure of the Sudan Socialist Union, 1975 260 7.2 Oil Companies Holding Concessions in South-Central Region 284 Preface I owe an immense and abiding debt to the colleagues and students with whom I worked over my eight years at the University of Khartoum (1969-77). My initial inclination was to list the names of as many as I could. Alas, the list would continue for pages, and I would probably cause offence by omitting some.