Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok on Sunday announced his resignation following a deadly crackdown on protesters in Khartoum, reported CGTN Africa.
In a televised speech on Sunday, Hamdok said a roundtable discussion was needed to come to a new agreement for Sudan’s political transition to democracy. He said that he tried his best to stop the country from sliding towards disaster but failed to do so.
“In view of the fragmentation of the political forces and conflicts between the (military and civilian) components of the transition… despite everything that has been done to reach a consensus… it has not happened,” the Sudanese prime minister said.
He warned Sudan is crossing a dangerous turning point that threatens its whole survival.
In October, the Sudanese military, under the leadership of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, had staged a coup and placed Prime Minister Hamdok under house arrest. Amid international pressure, the military reinstated Hamdok on November 21 under a deal promising elections for mid-2023.
Mass protests against the coup have continued even after Hamdok was reinstated as the protesters claim military General Burhan has failed to fulfill his promise to guide the country toward full democracy.
Sudan’s pro-democracy movement denounced that agreement, demanding that power be handed over to a fully civilian government tasked with leading the transition. They claimed that the agreement handed over power to the generals, whom they accuse of trying to continue the regime built by longtime leader Omar al-Bashir.
On Sunday, thousands of demonstrators rallied against the Sudanese military near the presidential palace in the capital Khartoum and in its twin city Omdurman.
They chanted and called on the military to leave politics alone. They lambasted the coup, shouting “power to the people” as they demand the military to return to the barracks.
According to the pro-democracy Sudan Central Doctors’ Committee, over 50 people have been killed at protests since the coup, including at least two on Sunday.
