Sudan activists reject power-sharing with army
KHARTOUM, Sudan — Sudan’s protest movement has rejected internationally backed initiatives to return to a power-sharing arrangement with the military after last month’s coup, announcing two days of nationwide strikes starting Sunday.
The movement called for the establishment of a civilian government to lead a transition to democracy.
The call came as a leader of the country’s main political party accused the military leadership of negotiating in bad faith.
The Sudanese military seized power Oct. 25, dissolving the transitional administration and arresting dozens of government officials and politicians. The coup has been met with international outcry and massive protests in the streets of Khartoum.
The takeover has upended the country’s fragile planned transition to democratic rule, more than two years after a popular uprising forced the removal of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government.
Since the coup, the international community has accelerated mediation efforts to find a way out of the crisis, which threatens to further destabilize the already restive Horn of Africa region.
The Sudanese Professionals Association, which led the uprising against al-Bashir, said late Friday that mediation initiatives which “seek a new settlement” between the military and civilian leaders would “reproduce and worsen” the country’s crisis.
Under the slogan of: “No negotiations, no compromise, no power-sharing,” the association, which has a presence across the country, called for strikes and civil disobedience Sunday and Monday.