Sovereignty, by which we mean the commanding authority capable of imposing its will upon individuals, vested in the Sudanese people residing within the borders of Sudan as established up to the year 1934. Our democratic system, with all its pillars, is the means through which this sovereignty will be realized for the people.
It goes without saying that sovereignty is not an end in itself, but rather a means to achieve political freedom and economic and social equality. Without these, the environment necessary for the flourishing of absolute individual freedom cannot be realized.
We must exercise caution, as granting sovereignty to the people is a delicate and sensitive matter. In practice, the populace does not directly exercise power but entrusts authority to a select group of representatives who act on its behalf. Often, these representatives exploit the principle of popular sovereignty to infringe upon freedoms and encroach upon individual rights. This occurs because humanity continues to bear the remnants of its historical legacy, and even the concept of popular sovereignty is merely a development of this legacy, still burdened with its flaws.
In the past, the strong imposed their will upon the weak through various means - physical force, moral or religious authority, intellectual superiority, economic power, or numerical strength. In modern times, this numerical strength has evolved into the organized power of groups, giving rise to the concept of popular sovereignty. This concept, being rooted in power, is prone to exploitation resulting in the abuse of power under its guise.
However, hope rests on the gradual strengthening of the modern concept, where right is power, not the other way around, and where the state is subject to the law. This, in turn, is likely to limit the movement toward either reducing political authority to the rule of the strong over the weak, legitimizing whatever actions the ruler takes, or granting full legitimacy to parliamentary actions regardless of their content. This would enable parliaments to claim absolute power and pave the way for the terrifying notion of parliamentary absolute immunity.
The solution to this predicament is not to withhold sovereignty from the people but, on the contrary, to be granted it to them in its entirety. Only through its exercise can the people learn to respect and uphold it. The law must always remain before their eyes as an object of reverence and respect, so that their motto becomes “right is might.”
Both the government and the people must devote their time, resources, and efforts to educating individuals about the law, fostering respect for its authority, and cultivating alignment with its principles. This will produce a public opinion - or a "general will," if you prefer - that is enlightened, lawful, and derived from its alignment with the law, its adherence to it, and its embodiment of it. Such a public opinion, so described, is the true holder of sovereignty. Upon it depends the success of governance and the application of the law.
No one should assume that such a public opinion could emerge spontaneously through the mere passage of time. Its existence requires the awakening of the conscience of every individual within the community. Therefore, a deliberate educational approach is essential to direct and stimulate this development, by addressing each individual directly, making their conscience the primary monitor of their actions and the foremost judge of their mistakes and missteps.
The establishment of a government of law in public life is best achieved when each individual upholds the rule of law in their private life. We have found this educational method only in the Quran, for it is simultaneously a constitution for individual conduct and for collective conduct. As such, it equips individuals with the ability to harmonize their personal needs with the needs of the community in which they live.
The Quran teaches that the most distant of individual aspirations can only be attained through love for the community, selflessness in seeking their welfare, and sincerity toward them both in private and in public. The Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad, in worship and conduct, is the living and manifest embodiment of this educational method.
The people who have been educated in this manner are the ones truly deserving of full sovereignty. In our constitution, we grant this sovereignty to our people from the very outset, for the practice of sovereignty itself makes the type of education we previously mentioned possible.