Sudan: Military promises renunciation of power

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The self-proclaimed head of state General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in October 2021

Photo: Ashraf Shazly / AFP

The military leadership in Sudan is apparently ready to relinquish power.

The self-proclaimed head of state, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, announced on Monday that the army was withdrawing from talks about the country's political future.

This allows civil and political groups to decide how to proceed in Sudan.

In his statement, al-Burhan said the military would allow "political and revolutionary forces" to form a government.

After that, a new military body could be set up that would only take on "security and defense tasks."

The decision follows months of chaos and deadly protests in Sudan.

East African Sudan was ruled by Islamist President Omar al-Bashir for almost 30 years before he was ousted from office in April 2019 following mass protests and a military coup.

The military, led by al-Burhan, and the civilian opposition agreed in a constitutional agreement on a joint interim government that should pave the way for elections in 2022.

According to this, al-Burhan should have withdrawn from the interim government by 2021 at the latest and leave the leadership of the country to civilians.

Instead, the military seized power last October and declared a nationwide state of emergency that lasted until the end of May.

In the country with 44 million inhabitants, there were repeated street protests.

According to the Reuters news agency, around 2,000 people gathered in the center of the capital Khartoum on Monday to protest against the military junta.

According to human rights organizations, security forces illegally arrested and severely abused hundreds of anti-government demonstrators.

According to a medical committee, a total of 57 people were killed by the end of May.

International economic aid to Sudan has largely been frozen.

kko/dpa/Reuters