ON October 25, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan declared a state of emergency in Sudan. He dissolved the Joint Sovereign Council which was in charge of Sudan’s transition towards civilian rule after the 2019 overthrow of the autocratic President Omar al-Bashir. He also arrested Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and his wife, several civilian ministers and party leaders.

The 2019 revolution that toppled the government of al-Bashir had raised hope for democratic rule, not only in Sudan. The revolutionaries had rejected the replacement of al-Bashir by another military figurehead, and forced the military to reach an agreement with civilian parties that resulted in a transitional power-sharing arrangement that should have paved the way for elections. This coup has effectively terminated the two years of working to establish a civilian government. Elections were expected to be held by the end of 2023.

In response to the coup, tens of thousands of civilians took to the streets of Khartoum and other major cities in protest. Large parts of the internet and mobile phone networks were cut off as protesters blocked streets and set fire to tyres in the capital and major cities. The Sudanese Bankers Association has joined the protests and Sudan has been hit by a severe cash shortage as most banks and cash machines remain closed one week after the coup. Trade unions representing doctors and oil workers have also joined the demonstrations.

The economy has been paralysed as the people rage against the military. The US has paused $700 million in debt relief and aid in an attempt to quell the violence. Hamdok continues to reject the junta’s demands for his restoration to power. The United Nations and the African Union (AU) have demanded full restoration of government under Hamdok. The AU has also suspended Sudan from the bloc over the “unconstitutional” seizure of power. Sudan is at a crossroads.

Under pressure, General al-Burhan, who headed Sudan’s power-sharing Sovereign Council, has justified the seizure of power and the dissolution of the country’s transitional government on the ground of infighting between the military and civilian parties which he claimed had threatened the country’s stability. He has also stated that the “armed forces will continue the democratic transition until the handover of the country’s leadership to a civilian, elected government.” This justification is laughable given that the transition arrangement had required that the military should pass the leadership of the Joint Sovereign Council to a civilian figure in July 2022. The world has noted how military leaders have provoked a series of crises to avoid ceding control of the council to civilians. Since September, they had stopped convening meetings in the Sovereign Council and harassed prominent civilian leaders, including Mohamed al-Faki Suleiman, who was expected to succeed Burhan in heading the council.

We join the international community to call on the junta to return power to the government under Hamdok. We remind the military that the process of democracy could be messy and so it should not be taken as an excuse to foist unconstitutional rule on Sudan. The issues in contention between the military and the civilian parties in the Joint Sovereign Council could have been resolved through the democratic deliberation process. The AU and the UN must not allow this travesty to stand. We also call on the United States and other global powers to exert pressure on Arab governments that supported the military in Sudan to call the generals to order. The junta must lift the state of emergency and recognise that the use of force of arms to govern people is outdated and unsustainable in the current period. The civilian transition government must be restored.

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