After Huge Protests, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok Resigns
Sudan’s Prime Minister, Abdalla Hamdok, has resigned following yet another round of large protests in the capital, Khartoum.
Touchaheart Nigeria reports that thousands of people are said to have marched against a recent deal he made with the army, which launched a coup in October. Protesters took to the streets, screaming “power to the people,” and demanding a return to full civilian authority. Military forces, on the other hand, carried out another bloody crackdown, killing two individuals.
The army now has complete control of the administration as a result of Mr Hamdok’s decision to resign.
In a televised address, Mr Hamdok said the country was at a “dangerous turning point that threatens its whole survival”.
He said he had tried his best to stop the country from “sliding towards disaster”, but that “despite everything that has been done to reach a consensus… it has not happened”.
After the army attempted a coup on October 25 and originally placed Prime Minister Hamdok under house arrest, civilian and military officials reached an uneasy power-sharing agreement.
The reinstalled prime minister was intended to lead a ministry of technocrats until elections were held, according to the November agreement with Mr Hamdok. However, it is unclear how much influence the new civilian government will have, and demonstrators have expressed their distrust of the military.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Khartoum and Omdurman, chanting and urging the military to stay out of politics.
Activists have said 2022 will be “the year of the continuation of the resistance”.
According to the pro-democracy Sudan Central Doctors’ Committee, more than 50 people have been killed in protests since the coup, including at least two on Sunday.
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the coup’s leader, has defended the coup, claiming that the army intervened to prevent a civil war from erupting. Sudan, he maintains, is still committed to a civilian-led transition, with elections scheduled for July 2023.
