KHARTOUM, Nov 21 – A political agreement has been signed in Sudan enabling Abdalla Hamdok to be reinstated as Prime Minister.
Sudan’s top general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan signed the deal on Sunday with Hamdok to restore the transition to civilian rule nearly a month after a military coup.
The 14-point deal, signed in the presidential palace in Khartoum, provides for the reinstatement of Hamdok as prime minister.
The agreement also provides for the release of all political prisoners detained during the coup and stipulates that a 2019 constitutional declaration be the basis for a political transition, according to details read out on state TV.
“I should begin by saying that our country is guarded and preserved by God almighty and whatever we reach at dead end, my fellow Sudanese people are capable of restoring our country back on course,” Hamdok said.
“When I then accepted the designation as an interim prime minister, I realised that the road was not strewn with roses, it would be a daunting task, fraught by risks and dangers. However, by joining hands, we can all prevent our country from plunging into the unknown. We should all come together to let the people decide who will take and hold the reigns of power.
“Signing this framework political agreement will open doors to address all the pending issues of the transitional period over the past two years and under this partnership we have managed to achieve a lot. We have brought Sudan back into the international community, lifted its name form the terrorist blacklist and many other achievements. However, we still have many challenges laying ahead,” he added.
Sudan’s military has lifted restrictions on Hamdok’s movement and removed the security forces that were stationed outside his home on Sunday, his office told Reuters.
Even as news of the deal spread, thousands of protesters marched towards the presidential palace in Khartoum in the early afternoon and called for the downfall of military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Hamdok was placed under house arrest when the military seized power on Oct. 25, derailing a transition towards democracy agreed after the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir in 2019 that ended his three decades of autocratic rule.
The military dissolved Hamdok’s cabinet and detained a number of civilians who held top positions under the power-sharing deal agreed with the military after Bashir was ousted.
Under the new agreement between the military and civilian political parties, Hamdok will form an independent cabinet of technocrats, said Fadlallah Burma Nasir, head of the Umma Party who attended the talks that led to the deal.
Hamdok is on board with the agreement to stop the bloodshed following protests against the coup, said a source close to the ousted prime minister, who could not immediately be reached for comment.
The coup triggered mass demonstrations against the military and medics aligned with the protest movement say security forces have killed 40 civilians in increasingly violent crackdowns.
The constitutional declaration struck between the military and civilians in 2019 after Bashir was ousted would remain the foundation in further talks, the source close to Hamdok said.
The media adviser of military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan could not immediately be reached for comment.
Activist groups leading the protests since the coup have demanded the military gets out of politics altogether, however.
A statement on Sunday on the Facebook page of the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) civilian coalition that had been sharing power with the military said it did not recognise any agreement with the armed forces.
“We affirm our clear and previously announced position: no negotiation and no partnership and no legitimacy for the putschists,” the FFC statement said.
Those who carried out and backed the coup should face justice, the statement said, calling on people to turn out for the latest round of anti-military protests on Sunday.
Following the coup, Hamdok had demanded the release of all political detainees and a return to power-sharing as a precondition for negotiating, according to sources close to him.
Western powers that had backed Sudan’s political transition condemned the takeover and suspended some economic assistance to Sudan.
Story By Agencies (Al Jazeera, Reuters.)
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