Sudan’s Ongoing Struggle for Democracy

What is the issue?

Sudan has witnessed massive protests since Abdel Fattah al-Burhan took over in a military coup and upended the country’s transition to democracy.

The present conflict in Sudan has its roots in 2018, when the then President Omar al-Bashir ended subsidies on fuel and wheat.
Sudan was undergoing acute economic distress at that time with inflation at 74.29%, the second highest rate in the world.
Protests spread across the country demanding for the ouster of Bashir, who had been in power for 30 years.
This led to the army deposing the President.

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Bashir’s dictatorial reign was marked by charges of genocide, repression and human rights abuses.
Bashir first came to power in 1989 and later appointed himself the civilian president.
He disbanded the military junta and banned rival political parties.
The Bashir-led government was accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity against non-Arab communities in the Darfur region of Sudan.
In 2009, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Bashir.
In 2019, the Transitional Military Council (TMC) led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan was established in Sudan, which began talks with the protesting groups to establish the way forward for the country.
The protests culminated in the Khartoum massacre when the TMC’s paramilitary forces opened fire on protestors.

In 2019, protestors and the TMC came to an agreement.
The military would share power with officials that would be elected by civilian political groups constituting a ruling body called the Sovereignty Council, which would lead Sudan to elections at the end of 2023.
The Sovereignty Council appointed Abdalla Hamdok as Prime Minister for the transitional period, and he was sworn in in 2019.
However, in 2021, the military junta, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, arrested PM Abdalla Hamdok in another coup and declared a state of emergency.

Protesters felt that the military had hindered Sudan’s transition to democracy and massive crowds laid siege to cities across Sudan.
Combined with international pressure to restore the civilian democracy, the military was forced to put back Hamdok as Prime Minister.
But, Hamdok resigned from his role stating that he was unable to work with the military to find a solution.
Recently, the US government called for the lifting of the ongoing state of emergency in Sudan and threatened sanctions on anyone that would interfere in the transition to democracy in Sudan.
Burhan lifted the emergency, promising a transition to democracy.

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