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Sudan crisis: Party of ex-leader Omar al-Bashir dissolved Sudan crisis: Women praise end of strict public order law
(about 5 hours later)
A law has been passed in Sudan dissolving the party of ousted former president Omar al-Bashir. Sudan has repealed a restrictive public order law that controlled how women acted and dressed in public.
Mr Bashir seized power in a 1989 coup and ruled for almost three decades, until he was overthrown by a protest movement in April. On Twitter, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok paid tribute to women "who have endured the atrocities that resulted from the implementation of this law".
The country's transitional authorities also repealed a public order law that was used to police women's behaviour. The country's transitional authorities also dissolved the party of former president Omar al-Bashir.
Both measures responded to key demands of the protest movement, which aims to dismantle Mr Bashir's regime. Mr Bashir seized power in a 1989 coup and ruled for nearly 30 years before peaceful protests ousted him in April.
Sudan is currently led by a joint military and civilian council, as well as a civilian-led cabinet headed by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. Sudan is currently led by a joint military and civilian council, as well as a civilian-led cabinet headed by Prime Minister Hamdok.
What does this mean? Both these measures were a response to key demands of the protest movement, which aims to dismantle Mr Bashir's regime.
People celebrated in the streets of the capital Khartoum overnight after hearing about the dissolution of the National Congress Party (NCP) and the end of the public order law.
Aisha Musa, one of two women on Sudan's new Sovereign Council, told BBC Newsday that while the former regime focused on how women dressed and acted - including preventing women from wearing trousers - it ignored their education and healthcare.
"It is about time that all this corruption stops, that all this treatment for the women of Sudan stops," she said.
What was the public order law?
Human rights activist Hala al-Karib told BBC Newsday that repealing the law was a "massive step" for her country, arguing the legislation enforced the old regime's ideology, which was "based in terror and discrimination".
Authorities had the power to "literally hunt women" for the way they dressed, walked and interacted with others - laws which disproportionately affected poorer women, women from conflict zones and people outside the capital, Khartoum.
But while she welcomed the end of the law, Ms Karib said more needed to be done to end "a very discriminatory legal framework".
Women were at the forefront of the movement that toppled Mr Bashir.
On 25 November, Sudan held its first march in decades for the International Day for Eliminating Violence Against Women.
One law for the rich...
By James Copnall, BBC News, Sudan analyst
The decision to revoke the Public Order Law is a momentous step. The authorities used it in particular to control women. Some received 40 lashes for wearing trousers in public.
The way the law was applied underlined the divisions and tensions within Sudanese society.
In recent years it was common to see rich Khartoum women wearing trousers in public - while those targeted by the morality police were often poorer women from the marginalised areas on the periphery of this vast country.
The National Congress Party, meanwhile, was a colossus, the political vehicle for a regime which tried to reshape every part of Sudanese life - and cracked down extremely hard on anybody who disagreed.
The authorities hope that dismantling the NCP will help stop the old regime from undermining the transitional government.
There is a certain irony about a transitional government set up to move the country to democracy banning a political party. But nobody other than its partisans will mourn the NCP, which is blamed for creating so much misery.
Those who led the protests - and women's rights activists in particular - are celebrating the demise of the NCP and the law, even if they recognise this is just the start of a longer struggle to transform Sudan.
What about Mr Bashir's party?
Dissolving Mr Bashir's National Congress Party (NCP) means that the authorities can seize the party's assets. The decree confirmed that a committee would be formed to do this.Dissolving Mr Bashir's National Congress Party (NCP) means that the authorities can seize the party's assets. The decree confirmed that a committee would be formed to do this.
This, Mr Hamdok tweeted, is so they can "retrieve the stolen wealth of the people of Sudan". This, Mr Hamdok tweeted, was so they could "retrieve the stolen wealth of the people of Sudan".
The decree also said "none of the symbols of the regime or party would be allowed to engage in any political activity for 10 years".The decree also said "none of the symbols of the regime or party would be allowed to engage in any political activity for 10 years".
A spokeswoman for the Sudanese Professionals Association, the protest group that toppled al-Bashir, told the BBC this was "a historic moment".A spokeswoman for the Sudanese Professionals Association, the protest group that toppled al-Bashir, told the BBC this was "a historic moment".
"This is a moment of relief, because each and every person in Sudan has been affected in some way or the other by this regime in a negative manner," spokeswoman Samahir Mubarak said."This is a moment of relief, because each and every person in Sudan has been affected in some way or the other by this regime in a negative manner," spokeswoman Samahir Mubarak said.
What other laws have been changed? But the NCP condemned the move as "nothing more than a moral scandal, an act of intellectual bankruptcy and a total failure on the part of the illegal government".
A controversial public order law that severely curtailed women's rights in Sudan was also repealed. "The party is not bothered by any law or decision issued against it as the NCP is a strong party and its ideas will prevail," a post on the party's Facebook page read.
Activists said under the oppressive regulation, based on particularly harsh interpretations of Islamic Sharia law, women were arrested for attending private parties or wearing trousers. You may also be interested in:
Rights activists say thousands of women were arrested and flogged for indecency every year, and laws were applied arbitrarily.
Prime Minister Hamdok tweeted: "The laws of public order and public morals were a tool of exploitation, humiliation, violation - violation of the rights of citizens, and a violation of the dignity of the people.
"I send a tribute to the young men and women of my country who have endured the horrors of the application of these laws."
On 25 November, Sudan held its first march in decades for the International Day for Eliminating Violence Against Women.
Women were at the forefront of the movement that toppled Mr Bashir.