The African country has staged a new coup d'état that has plunged the country into chaos and further distanced it from a democratic project

Sudan: a new scenario of violence sweeps the country

photo_camera PHOTO/ARCHIVO - demonstrations in Sudan

The Transitional Government in Sudan has lasted three years. In the early hours of 25 October, military forces staged a coup d'état that had been in the making: a new coup d'état that broke with the plans to form a democratic system in Sudan.

The military junta arrested the prime minister, whose whereabouts remain unknown, and part of the civilian government, while the media was taken over by army forces. With the control of the media and the suspension of the civilian government, all power is devolving to the main protagonist, General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan. 

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In a televised speech, al-Burhan reported his decision: the dissolution of the military-civilian Sovereignty Council and the appointment of the army as the "guarantor" of the transition to a so-called civilian government. In his statements, he reaffirmed his intention to continue holding general elections in 2023, something that has been called into question by the extreme wave of violence in the country.

Prior to the prime minister's arrest, Abdullah Hamdok encouraged the Sudanese people to take to the streets to "defend the revolution", and civil society responses were swift. Hundreds of people came out to demonstrate against the new coup d'état, chanting "we will not accept military rule". Chaos gripped the country and popular demands tried to echo in the midst of the turmoil. Far from responding peacefully, the army acted by opening fire on the civilian population. The toll at the moment is dramatic: at least seven people have been killed and another 140 wounded, according to the Sudanese Ministry of Health.

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The Ministry of Information, which still supports Hamdok, has written on its Facebook page that the army's action was a crime. Even so, the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) continue to call on the population to take to the streets to defend democracy and force the military to resign. In addition, as a form of protest, health workers and several trade unions have gone on strike.

Sudan has already been condemned by the international community and major countries that maintain foreign sponsors in the country, including the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and France. All of them have demanded the return to a transitional government to establish democracy and the release of the prime minister and his cabinet.

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The US has already announced the suspension of $700 million in emergency aid to the country and demanded the "immediate" return of the transitional civilian government. State Department spokesman Ned Price condemned "the actions taken by Sudanese army forces" and added that "the arrest of civilian officials and political leaders, including Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok, undermines the democratic transition".

Alongside this, Price noted that they were "unaware of the army's intention to overthrow the prime minister" and pointed out that there is no "specific limit on the military leadership in Sudan to restore civilian rule".

With the new military coup, the image of General Abdel Fattah and the leader of the opposition coalition, Ahmad al-Rabiah, celebrating the signing of a civilian-military power-sharing agreement paving the way for a transitional government is now a thing of the past.

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Sudan, witness to disembodied violence and voracious uprooting, has not forgotten the weight of three decades of military rule. The overthrow of General Abdulfatah Barham Abdul Rahman brought a glimmer of hope to the country, a chance for Sudan to know a system of governance other than repression and terror. For some nations, however, democracy remains utopian, and in the case of Sudan, a country where hatred and revenge have been brewing, the aims of building a democratic system have outweighed the country's history.

A divided society, a weak transitional government and a history that weighs on the shoulders of an entire country have been the precise causes that have led to a new coup d'état from which the most unfavourable scenarios are expected.

With no news as yet of the prime minister's whereabouts, the African country is staging a scenario that is unfortunately not unfamiliar to the Sudanese population. Civilians continue to take to the streets demanding the military's departure, while the military is once again trying to take control of a country that is moving further and further away from democracy.


 

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