SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune – Burhan, Hamdok sign political agreement on transition in Sudan

21/11/2021: Sudan Tribune – Burhan, Hamdok sign political agreement on transition in Sudan

Sudan Tribune report on the contents of deal signed between Sudan’s army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, which is viewed as legitimising the 25 October coup.

The coup amends the Constitutional Declaration to “ensure comprehensive political participation for all components of society”. These means that two Islamist parties that were allied to regime of Omar al-Bashir - the Popular Congress Party and Reform Now Party can now be represented in the transitional legislative council, having been previously forbidden from doing so. Their participation provides a political base for the military component.

The deal does not indicate who will nominate the “technocrat” civilian government. It also reforms the Tamkeen committee that aimed to retrieve the illicitly gained assets of the former regime by establishing an appeals committee to challenge its decisions.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AP – Sudan military leaders reinstate deposed prime minister

21/11/2021: AP – Sudan military leaders reinstate deposed prime minister, by Samy Magdy and Noha Elhennawy

 

AP report on Abdallah Hamdok’s reinstating as prime minister following a deal with the army provides reactions and quotes from analysts

 

The Sudanese Professionals’ Association (SPA), the trade union coalition that played a key role in the uprising accused Hamdok of committing “political suicide.”. “This agreement is an unjust attempt to bestow legitimacy on the latest coup and the military council,” the SPA tweeted. The Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) pro-democracy coalition also rejected the deal.

 

Cameron Hudson of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, said the deal allows the generals to largely retain their control and avoid accountability for the coup and the deaths of dozens of protesters. “This is a deal among elites that largely seems to prioritise their preservation over the demands of the street,” he said.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: New York Times – Ousted in Coup, Sudan’s Prime Minister Returns via Military Deal

21/11/2021: New York Times – Ousted in Coup, Sudan’s Prime Minister Returns via Military Deal, by Declan Walsh

 

Declan Walsh provides analyst reactions to Abdallah Hamdok’s deal with the military to return as Prime Minister.

 

Magdi el-Gizouli of the Rift Valley Institute said: “Hamdok preferred to become the secretary of a dictator over a symbol of an emancipatory movement. Whoever marketed this as realpolitik underestimated the depth of the desire for change among the new generation in Sudan. It was devastating to watch young Sudanese being shot to death by the security forces in recent weeks, and to compare that with the bankruptcy of the geriatric political class.”

 

Jonas Horner of the International Crisis Group said: “[Hamdok’s cabinet will be] entirely stocked with people who are not to be trusted”. Horner added that the felt threatened by civilians delivering tentative signs of economic recovery. He called for the US and its allies to keep the democratic transition on track but not reward a “thinly veiled military government.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources – Hamdok reinstated as Prime Minister in a deal rejected by Sudan’s pro-democracy movement

21/11/2021: Multiple sources – Hamdok reinstated as Prime Minister in a deal rejected by Sudan’s pro-democracy movement

 

Abdalla Hamdok signed a deal with the army that will see him reinstated as Prime Minister after last month’s coup, sparking fresh protests by activists demanding a complete end to military rule.

 

Under the pact, the army promises to free political detainees of the coup, and Hamdok will be allowed to choose a new technocratic government, with military oversight.

 

Protesters labelled Hamdok a traitor and accused him of standing with the coup leaders. The Sudanese Professionals Association labelled the deal “treasonous”.

The deal was also rejected by the Forces of Freedom and Change and Sudan Doctors Syndicate, and more pro-democracy groups.

 

“The streets have already vowed to keep resisting, so it’s likely that we’ll see more, not fewer, protests,” said Kholood Khair, managing partner at Insight Strategy Partners.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Reuters - Unfinished business in the birthplace of Sudan's revolution

21/11/19: Reuters - Unfinished business in the birthplace of Sudan's revolution, by Ulf Laessing

 Reuters feature piece explores sentiments in Atabara, a “hotbed of unrest” since Sudan’s independence.

 The grievances that drove their uprising – poor salaries and unemployment – remain. Locals are also angry that the city is run by a military governor, and that Omar al-Bashir’s security network remains in Atbara.

 “Nothing has changed for citizens and the youth. The civil service is still made up of the former regime,” said Adel Sheikh, a senior member of Atbara’s Forces for Freedom and Change coalition.

 Amid Sudan’s economic crisis, there are also fears that the Islamists may regain power

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Reuters - Unfinished business in the birthplace of Sudan's revolution

21/11/19: Reuters - Unfinished business in the birthplace of Sudan's revolution, by Ulf Laessing

 Reuters feature piece explores sentiments in Atabara, a “hotbed of unrest” since Sudan’s independence.

 The grievances that drove their uprising – poor salaries and unemployment – remain. Locals are also angry that the city is run by a military governor, and that Omar al-Bashir’s security network remains in Atbara.

 “Nothing has changed for citizens and the youth. The civil service is still made up of the former regime,” said Adel Sheikh, a senior member of Atbara’s Forces for Freedom and Change coalition.

 Amid Sudan’s economic crisis, there are also fears that the Islamists may regain power.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources – Ali al-Haj, Sudan’s most prominent Islamist politician, sent to prison holding al-Bashir

21/11/19: Multiple sources – Ali al-Haj, Sudan’s most prominent Islamist politician, sent to prison holding al-Bashir

 Popular Congress Party secretary general Ali al-Haj, Sudan’s most prominent Islamist politician, was arrested after being summoned for questioning over former leader Omar al-Bashir’s rise to power in a 1989 coup. He has been transferred to Kober prison, where al-Bashir is also being held.

 The investigation is a significant step against the Islamist political networks that supported al-Bashir, with leading PCP figure Ibrahim al-Sanusi also arrested.