Sudanese stage anti-government rallies
KHARTOUM: Hundreds of Sudanese protesters took to the streets on Saturday demanding the dissolution of the transitional government, saying it had failed them economically and politically.
The protests came as Sudan’s political scene reels from divisions among factions steering the country through a rocky transition following the April 2019 ouster of president Omar Al Bashir ater mass protests against his rule.
Saturday’s demonstrations were organised by a splinter faction of the Forces for Freedom and Change, a civilian alliance which spearheaded the anti-bashir protests and became a key plank of the transition.
“We need a military government, the current government has failed to bring us justice and equality,” said Abboud Ahmed, a 50-year-old protester near the presidential palace in central Khartoum.
Critics of Saturday’s protests alleged that the demonstrations were driven by members of the military and security forces, and involve sympathisers with the former regime.
Protesters carried banners calling for the “dissolution of the government,” while others chanted “one army, one people” and “the army will bring us bread.” “We are marching in a peaceful protest and we want a military government,” said housewife Enaam Mohamed in central Khartoum.
On Friday, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok warned that the transition is facing “the worst and most dangerous” crisis.
Hamdok announced a series of steps for his country’s transition to democracy less than a month ater a coup atempt rocked its leadership.
In a speech, the pemier called the coup atempt an “alarm bell’ that should awaken people to the causes of the country’s political and economic challenges.
“The serious political crisis that we are living in right now, I would not be exaggerating to say, is the worst and most dangerous crisis that not only threatens the transition, but threatens our whole country,” he said.
Hamdok said on Friday that the root issues behind the political crisis have long been there, in an atempt to bring all parties back to the table for talks.
In a speech to mark the Muslim holiday of the Prophet Muhammed’s (PBUH) birthday, he laid out a series of measures that he said would help speed the handover to a completely elected and civilian government.