Political crisis deepens in Sudan
Sudan is faced with the strange situation where there are protests in Khartoum on Saturday demanding that the army stage a coup and take power because in the existing civilian-military transition government, there is disenchantment with the civilian part. This is a transition government that is to govern Sudan until full-fledged elections are to be held in 2023.
The groups aligned to the civilian parties have also called for a similar protest on 21st October. This was the arrangement that was made when the country’s former president Omar al-bashir was overthrown in 2019. But the protests have created a political crisis. The army says that it is not interested in pushing out the civilian partners in the government, but it wants the cabinet to replace the cabinet, and it is demanding reforms as the public anger is over corruption. There is a clash between factions aligned with the army and with the civilian groups in The Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition. The civilian groups of the coalition suspect that it is an atempt by the army to grab power. The crisis precipitated because of the aborted coup by forces loyal to Omar al-bashir.
Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has expressed the view that the clash between the civilian and military sides endangers Sudan’s future, and he has proposed a plan which is to strengthen the civilian base. He said, “I am not neutral or mediator in this conflict. My clear and firm position is complete alignment to the civilian democratic transition.” Hamdok also wants reform of the military, formation of a transitional legislature and the expansion of the base for political participation. He said that the protesting tribesmen in the east of the country who have blockaded the port have legitimate grievances but pleaded for the opening of the movement of trade. He said that an international donors’ conference was being organised.
It is the aborted coup of pro-bashir forces on September 21 that seems to have brought to the surface the rit between the military and the civilian parties in the transition government. The points of contention are over how the Darfur crisis is to be resolved. Omar al-bashir is accused of violent suppression of the Darfur revolt where 300,000 people are estimated to have been killed. He denies the charge even as he is held prisoner in Darfur and the demand is that he be tried in the International Court of Justice at The Hague. There is also the felt need to reconnect the Sudanese economy to the international network. Finding a satisfactory resolution to the internal crisis in Sudan seems to be most elusive as there are no acceptable terms to do justice to the Darfur issue. There is immense Western pressure that the Sudanese central government cannot allow the Darfur issue to hang fire because the Darfur is part Christian and part animist.
But the suspicion between the civilian and military sides in the transition government runs deep. Says former trade minister Madani Abbas Madani: “I am sure that until now, the military component is not keen on the completion of a civilian, democratic transition.” A military source counters the charge: “We are keen on continuing the partnership to carry out the duties of the transition and hold elections.” The confrontation between the military and civilian factions in the transition government is deepening the economic crisis in the country.
“Sudan’s economy is the most fragile component of the transition,” according to Jonas Horner of the International Crisis group. United States officials have threatened that in the likelihood of a military takeover, the crippling American economic sanctions will be back in place.