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فِبْرايِر، ١٩٧٢ — February, 1972 

The Presidential Palace, Street, Khartoum, State of Khartoum (Wilayat Khartoum)

The Democratic Republic Of Sudan • جمهورية السودان الديمُقراطية

NIMIERY DECLARES THE SPARK THAT LIGHTS A NATION — THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF SUDAN

On the 12th anniversary of Sudan’s declaration of the Republic and affirmation of total sovereignty from a foreign head of state, the nation looks back at the 47 years that had passed since the 1925 Khartoum Revolt sparked the embers of Sudan’s revolutionary spirit. Emerging from the Revolt, the founding father of Sudanization, the late Abdallah Khalil had set the country on the march toward the Hall of Nations, separating it from the powerful grip of the Egyptian Monarchy and its domain. However as the years went on, 1925 would be the first of many cases in which mobs of people would take to the streets demanding change. Just as the Second World War began Nationalists took to the streets, using the momentum of the SDF in Italian-occupied Eritrea to advance their revolutionary sentiment. In the late 40s, the Omdurman Blossom demonstrations had delivered the final blow in showing increasing popular demand to declare Sudan an independent nation, free of the clutches of an Empire struggling to recover from the devastation of the war. A decade after that another series of civil unrest in Western Sudan and Khartoum had brought about the abolishment of the Monarchy and the establishment of the Republic. And yet another decade later, the wars of Zionist aggression and the spread of Communist and Arab nationalist elements in the region, coupled with anti-colonial sentiments had shaken the inept and subservient conservative-liberal government of its hold on power, paving the way for Nimiery’s Regime, bringing with it a new Sudanese State, and a
stronger Sudanese Government.

From the Empire’s Colonial Sudan to Abdallah Khalil’s Fathered Commonwealth Democracy to Ismail Azheri and Benjamin Lwoki’s Republic, Gaafar Nimiery would come to establish the new chapter of Sudanese government, with a complete reorganization of the system of government and the relationship between the Sudanese central government and the Sudanese Provincial administration, that have themselves been reform to the status and title of “States” or Wilayat as they shall become to be known moving forward.

Along with the establishment of the States and their relation to the Autonomous Regional legislatures and Central Government, other long-known names and aspects of Sudan would be changed as well. The name of the Sudanese Defense Force (SDF) had been renamed to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the official name of the Presidential Residence changed from Government House, to permanently and officially named the Presidential Palace, as it is more popularly known. Most of the other changes primarily included renaming places and institutions, effectively making the set of reforms appear more as a “rebranding” of the country from its post-colonial fervor, into a much more established identity as a sovereign nation desperate to cement itself as part of the global struggle against new colonialism and meddling of superpower in Sudan’s spheres of interests.

This drive for change to become part of Nimiery’s vision of the “global revolution” would come in the form of a new flag, that had been unfurled at the second anniversary of the constitutional crisis that ushered in his Presidency, this new symbol for a new nation, one that follows the horizontal tricolor and triangle to left the design of the old flag, however with a change in the four colors to ones that many see as resembling that of the pan-Arab flag colors, garnering many varying reactions and commentary from the public. Many saw this as a desperate attempt to blend Sudan with the Arab world, many saw it as a dangerous sign of an era of identity politics revolving around the centering of power to the Arab north, and others truly welcomed it as a fierce symbol of the Sudanese nation, the Green Triangle, as the Flag would be known, would represent the fertile lands of Sudan, the Red top bar representing the sacrifice of Sudan’s martyrs from Kerari to Keren. The White middle bar represents peace and prosperity, and a nod to the white banner League of the 1925 Khartoum Revolt, finally, the bottom Black bar remains the same symbol of the Sudanese people, the pride of Blackness, the lands of the Sud, and the Black Pharaohs, an image that Nimeiry wishes to carry over from the Republic’s black triangle and white star flag.

The unfurling of the Green Triangle Flag would be attended by many in what had been described as the address to the Republic, as the flag was raised above the Presidential Palace, a new order was dawning on the officials party officials and Khartoum citizens who had gathered in the first display of patriotic fervor, never seen before since the abolishment of the monarchy. Many stood in silence, some worried and some anxious, yet others were in jubilation, in joyous spirits, and anticipation. Nimiery’s popularity was undoubtedly rising, and many are now supporting his effort to restore order and to ensure security and continuing stability, to the point where they now witness how their Republic shall be reorganized into the Democratic Republic of Sudan as its official title. For a safe and secure society. And yet as they watch the President give his speech, they’ll come to find a sense of repetition in it, those words shall be recited time and time again, words that symbolize in its declaration, the sparks that light a nation.

President Gaafar Nimiery Flag Address :|“This flag shall remain, up high, fluttering, for the passing decades and generations, symbolizing the spark of a nation, as an example of the determination of a people. Victory to Sudan! Glory to the People of Sudan!”

———————————————
AL-NASRU LENA!
AL-NASRU LE SUDAN!

FEBRUARY , 1972
The Introduction Of A New Tax System

| Under the pursuit of increasing the revenue generated for use by the Hungarian government. General secretary, Kádár János would bring his ambition of increasing revenue to chairman, Fock Jenő and minister of finance, Faluvégi Lajos to draft a new bill that'll rework the existing tax laws to generate increased revenue, without the side effects of a displeased population. |

| The resulting proposal created by Fock and Faluvégi would be the '1972 Revenue Bill'. The proposal would alter the laws pertaining to taxes, with its provisions:

Section 1: Import Tariffs On Food & Beverages
a) I. Imports which are types of vegetables, meats, fruits, grains, nuts and dairy produces. Will be taxed on a per unit basis.
a) II. Imports of types of liquors and breads, will be taxed on a, ad valorem. Ranging in-between a bare minimum of 15% and a maximum of 50%.
b) I. The higher quality liquors and breads that are imported, will have a lower tax import, meanwhile the lower quality imports will have a higher tax import.
Section 2: Property Tax
a) I. There will be a tax on real estate, that is levied in proportion to each municipalities population.
a) II. The local governments of each municipality will have to draw up separate districts to collect taxes from and to assess how high their taxes need to be. These districts will be known as "tax districts".
b) I. Tax districts will be different from a regular district, as a regular district in a municipality will be a form of lower level local administration, meanwhile a tax district is a district of a municipality set by the higher ends of the local government, to collect taxes from. With these tax districts having no administrative power.
b) II. The government officials to operate within a tax district are the "tax assessors", "tax auditors" and "tax collectors".
c) I. The tax assessors function is to collect the numbers on the population in the tax district and then calculate the numbers to form the percentage of tax that needs to be paid by the citizens in the tax district.
c) II. The tax auditors function is to observe the tax assessors and tax collectors to ensure that both are performing their duties and not using their positions for personal gains.
c) III. The tax collectors function is to receive information from the tax assessors then using the figure provided, go and send the taxes that they need to pay to each owner of real estate.
Section 3: Income Tax
a) I. There will be a 4% flat rate income tax levied on those with an annual income at or exceeding 110 Forint.
a) II. The income tax will be collected by tax collectors per tax districts.
Section 4: Temporary Local Autonomy Relating To Tax
a) I. Municipalities with a population lower then 20,000 or a annual income lower then 5000 Forint or a combination of the two factors. Will be entrusted with a level of autonomy relating to the way they conduct tax collection.
b) I. The autonomy trusted to these municipalities which fall under the criteria stated in a) I., are setting their own import tariffs and trade policies. This involve allowing local governments to negotiate trade agreements or exemptions tailored to their economic priorities. In the pursuit of fostering growth to these municipalities.
b) II. These municipalities will also be allowed to alter their ad valorem, tax percentage range and what would fall under the ad valorem tax. To tailor fit their economic priorities.
c) I. Other autonomous powers gifted to these municipalities, are that they have the power to alter their flat rate income tax percentage to either be at or lower or higher then 4%.
d) I. The final autonomous power gifted to these special municipalities, are that they have the ability to dictate what other criteria's go into the property tax, aside from population levels.
Section 5: The Usage Of The Act
a) I. The revenue earned from all taxes that had been established by this act. Will be used to fund public works projects and social welfare programs.
a) II. Taxes that had been implemented before and after this act. Unless amendments are made. Will not have what revenue is earned from those other taxes, be used towards funding public works projects and social welfare programs.
b) I. These public works projects relate to public services, like healthcare and education. |

| Fears would be raised on the potential results of implementing the bill. Some speculate that despite for Hungary's position as a state that left the Warsaw Pact, the protectionist writing in Section 1 could hamper the already small list of foreign nations they could perform trades with, pertaining to such an essential need that is: food. Potentially resulting in the lack of a safeguard for if the Hungarian agricultural sector ever fails due to conditions outside the control of the farmers. |

| Despite the worries for the lack of foreign safeguard, if the other nations in the Communist bloc take a major disliking to the protectionist measures outlined in Section 1 of the bill. The bill would be passed and become the 1972 Revenue Act. |

EPILOGUE
| The effects of the act would be felt in the form of growing pains, as the populace have to handle their new tax conditions. Specifically the most painful of the growing pains being the new property tax due to it specifically targeting real estate and not any other forms of personal property. The demographic that faced this issue the most being the poor, rural section of the country.
As those who declared themselves as representatives of the Hungarian rural folk, argued to the government:

" The new property tax on real estate, has resulted in a unjust burden on sparsely populated areas. "

Meanwhile some farmers believe that the new tarrifs, would assist them in growing their business and protecting their interest. As it'll potentially stop foreign agricultural produces from being imported in that would pose a larger competition to the domestic agricultural sector. |
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SHŌWA 47 | MARCH 1972
日本、融資交渉を開始


Japan Opens Loan Negotiations

 T R A N S A C T I O N    I N    Y E N 

君が代は 千代に八千代に 細石の 巌と為りて 苔の生すまで	May your reign Continue for a thousand, eight thousand generations, Until the tiny pebbles Grow into massive boulders Lush with moss

NIHONBASHI — NOON
_{TOKYO, Nippon-Nihon}

| Through negotiations, the Bank of Japan granted the World Bank a loan of $325-million in yen, the largest transaction in history. The last largest loan recorded was 5265-million in the United States in ‘68. Bank of Japan Executive Director SHIRO INOUE and World Bank Vice President for Finance SIMON ALDEWERELD signed the loan agreement. Observers noted that such a transaction showed how strong the Japanese yen is and the enthusiasm of the Japanese government and monetary authorities to encourage a reduction in dollar reserves, now $16.5‐billion. The loan amount in yen is 100 billion. As the yen is lent by the World Bank for overseas development, it will be converted into dollars and other currencies, which will reduce Japan’s foreign exchange reserves. |

| It was not long ago that Japan allowed international agencies such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to conclude business in the country. Although the yen is slowly moving towards greater use around the world, the Japanese look favorably on two government loans — by Australia and Mexico. Rumors have begun to surface about fluctuations in international corporate borrowers such as General Motors, but this appears to be some way off. New World Bank loans have an average duration of six and a half years. As for the interest rate, it will only be determined when the loan is withdrawn, until December. The basis of the rate would be the income of the original subscribers of government-guaranteed securities. That’s about 7%. The new World Bank financing will be the tenth in Japan in the last 25 months. But none of them exceeded 36-billion yen before. At the same time, outstanding World Bank loans still feature dollar-denominated loans. Next came loans in West German marks and then loans in Japanese yen. |

SHŌWA 47 | MARCH 1972
トヨタ自動車の主要拠点


Toyota’s Main Automotive Hub

 T O Y O T A    S U D A N 

君が代は 千代に八千代に 細石の 巌と為りて 苔の生すまで	May your reign Continue for a thousand, eight thousand generations, Until the tiny pebbles Grow into massive boulders Lush with moss

ATBARBAH AIRPORT — MORNINGTIME
_{ATBARBAH, Nileia}

| It has been 7 years since Toyota opened its first factory in Sudan’s growing capital, Khartoum. In mid-1968, the city was flooded with rumors that Japanese cars produced in Sudan were defective, prompting a group of Toyota executives to travel to Khartoum to inspect production. Japanese executives’ decision: provide adequate training to local workers and recall defective cars. Thus, the quality of all Toyota cars improved, but their prices rose, attracting the local middle and rich classes, as they had greater purchasing power. On the negative side, car sales to workers fell sharply. Already aware that its plan was not entirely a success, Toyota once again redirected its production towards cheaper and simpler cars. In 1970, the purchase of cheaper cars doubled in the Sudanese market. |

| Cheaper Japanese car models are now much more popular among workers in Sudan. The number of lower-class consumers was slightly higher in 1970 compared to 1965 and 1966. Aware of the popularity of its cars among the lower class, last year Toyota saw that the company was ready to expand into other Sudanese cities and sent a group of businessmen to Atbarbah, Sudan to begin talks with local authorities. Aware of the popularity of its cars among the lower class, Toyota saw that the company was ready to expand into other Sudanese cities and sent a group of businessmen to Khartoum to begin talks with local authorities After hours of flying, the JAL plane finally landed at the barren Atbarbah airport, where the Japanese businesspeople are greeted by journalists and some local government officials. |

| Upon leaving the airport, they were taken to Atbarbah City Hall, where a meeting was to be held. In a well-decorated room, Japanese businesspeople sat on chairs and took stacks of papers out of their suitcases. Toyota representatives have expressed interest in building two factories in Atbarbah and Bor Sudan, both creating 1,000 jobs each, benefiting the economies of both cities. They made it clear that the first factory would begin to be built in Atbarbah in December this year and the second factory in Bor Sudan in 1977. Toyota expects this expansion to be profitable for both sides. The meeting ended with Sudanese government officials accepting the construction of both factories. Toyota’s goal is to transform Sudan into its main automotive hub in Africa. |