KHARTOUM (MEMO) –
Thousands of Sudanese demonstrated in front of the presidential palace in Khartoum on Saturday to demand the “restoration of the revolution” and better living conditions, Anadolu Agency reports.
Waving the national flag, demonstrators carried banners reading “Patient people are hungry” and “One people, one army” among others, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter at the scene.
They were also chanting slogans calling for the overthrow of the transitional government.
On Thursday, the National Charter movement, one of the parties making the Forces for Freedom and Change coalition, called for mass rallies to “restore” the revolution.
“We will meet you (the Sudanese) on the street on Saturday in processions to restore the revolution and revive political life in Sudan,” the National Charter movement said in a statement.
Sudan is ruled by a civilian government and a Sovereign Council, which consists of 14 members; five military representatives from the army, six civilians from the Forces for Freedom and Change coalition and three members who were added in February to represent armed groups after a peace deal was signed with the government in October 2020.
For weeks, tensions have escalated between the military and civilian components of the transitional authority in Sudan as the former criticized the latter following a foiled coup attempt on September 21.
Meanwhile, demonstrations have shaken eastern Sudan since September 17 in rejection of a peace deal with rebel groups, which the local Beja tribes say marginalizes their community.
Since August 21, 2019, Sudan has been in a 53-month transitional period that will end with elections in early 2024.
Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has warned that Sudan is facing the “worst crisis” of its transition to civilian rule following the removal of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir more than two years ago.
“The essence of this crisis … is the inability to reach a consensus on a national project among the revolutionary and change forces,” Hamdok said in a televised speech.
“This is due to the deep splits among civilians and among the military, as well as between the civilians and the military,” he added.
“The serious political crisis that we are living in right now, I would not be exaggerating to say, is the worst and most dangerous crisis that not only threatens the transition, but threatens our whole country.”
Hamdok described the current political turmoil as between those who believe in a transition towards democracy and civilian leadership and those who do not.
“I am not neutral or a mediator in this conflict. My clear and firm position is complete alignment to the civilian democratic transition,” he said.
Nevertheless, he said he had spoken to both sides, and laid out a series of measures that he said would help speed the handover to a completely elected and civilian government. They included repeated exhortations for groups of differing opinions to work together, and for the country’s transitional constitution and judicial bodies to be respected.