Sudan’s military plans to restore Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and release all political prisoners under an agreement to end weeks of protests in the country, the head of one of the country’s main political parties told Reuters news agency on Sunday (21).
Hamdok was placed under house arrest when the military seized power on Oct. 25, disrupting a democratic transition agreed upon after the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir in 2019, which ended three decades of autocratic rule.
A source close to Hamdok said he had agreed to the deal to prevent further bloodshed in the country, but the civilian power-sharing coalition with the military has previously said it opposes any negotiations with the “coupists” and has called for the protests. continue this Sunday.
Sudan’s military lifted restrictions on Hamdok’s freedom and on Sunday removed security forces stationed outside his home, his office told Reuters.
Even with the release of the agreement, thousands of protesters marched towards the presidential palace in Khartoum in the early afternoon and called for the overthrow of military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
With the October 25 coup, the military dissolved Hamdok’s cabinet and detained several civilians who held key positions in the power-sharing agreement agreed with the military after Bashir was ousted.
Under the new agreement between the civil and military political parties, Hamdok will form an independent cabinet of technocrats, said Fadlallah Burma Nasir, head of the Umma Party, which participated in the negotiations that led to the agreement.
The coup triggered mass demonstrations against the military. Medical organizations supporting the protests say security forces have killed at least 40 civilians in increasingly violent crackdowns.
The constitutional declaration made between military and civilians in 2019, after Bashir was ousted, will remain the basis for further negotiations, a source close to Hamdok said.
URGENT MEETING
Sudan’s Sovereign Council will hold an urgent meeting this Sunday before announcing the agreement, said a source with knowledge of the negotiations.
The media adviser to military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan could not be reached for comment.
Activist groups leading the protests since the coup have demanded that the military leave politics entirely. A statement Sunday on the Facebook page of the Civilian Coalition of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), which shared power with the military, said it does not recognize any agreements with the armed forces.
“We affirm our clear and previously announced position: no negotiation, no partnership and no legitimacy for the coup plotters,” the FFC statement said.
Those who carried out and supported the coup must face justice, the statement said, calling on people to attend the latest round of anti-military protests on Sunday.
After the coup, Hamdok demanded the release of all political prisoners and a return to power sharing as a precondition for negotiations, according to sources close to him.
Western powers that supported Sudan’s political transition condemned the coup and suspended some economic assistance to Sudan.
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