Protestants in Sudan have returned to the streets over the slow pace of change a year after a power-sharing agreement was signed between the country’s generals and a pro-democracy movement.
Draped in Sudanese flags and singing slogans calling for more reform, protesters gathered outside the capital’s cabinet in Khartoum on Monday to list the requirements for the election of a legislature. .
The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), an umbrella organization of pro-democracy groups that continues to lead protests that led to the assassination of longtime President Omar al-Bashir last year, said on Twitter that security forces are spreading violence to protesters after they demanded Prime to meet Minister Abdallah Hamdok and refused to negotiate with an envoy sent in his place.
Large numbers of tear gas were also fired on Protestants.
A protest holding a poster that reads ‘People are still suffering’ [Ashraf Shazly/AFP]
‘Requests not met’
Months of unusual street protests beginning in December 2018 forced army generals to step in and overthrow al-Bashir in April 2019. Demonstrations, however, went well after the downfall of al-Bashir, with protesters demanding that power be handed over to a civilian government.
Months of on-and-off negotiations culminated in the signing of a power-sharing agreement between the military and the pro-democracy movement.
“When we started the revolution, it was because of the economy,” said Mohammed Abdu, an engineer and member of the SPA, who helped strike the deal with the military.
“And when the first martyr fell, the goal became justice for those who lost their lives during this revolution,” Abdu told Al Jazeera. “We have promised to account for those who killed civilians. That main issue has not yet been met.”
Large quantities of tear gas were also fired to disperse the Protestants [Mahmoud Hjaj/Anadolu]Mohammed Ogeil, a political activist, lamented that founding parties involved in the negotiations did not have a long vision to get the country out of its political and economic misery.
“They were in a hurry to reach a deal,” he said. “They did not lack a national spirit and entered into negotiations based on the interests of their own respective parties.”
The deal, known as the Constitutional Agreement and signed on August 17, 2019, provides for a joint civil-military governing body, tasked with leading the country to elections after a transition period of 39 months.
The 11-member governing body, called the sovereign council, consists of five citizens, five military leaders and a consensus citizen who has been agreed by both sides. It is let through General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Meanwhile, a cabinet led by Hamdok tasked to the day-to-day run of the country,
Protestants on Monday lamented the course the transition had taken, saying the army was exerting too much influence on civilian leadership.
“The course of the revolution needs to be corrected,” activist Awatef Ossman was quoted as saying by the Associated Press, calling the presence of the military in government a “clear and specific obstacle”.
The prospect of a devastating economy, already threatened by decades of US sanctions, also weighed heavily on people’s heads, with protesters at the rally demanding the organization hold a conference to steer the country out of the current crisis.
“The constitutional declaration was a scheme to reach a political solution for this country,” said political analyst Tahir Mutassim.
“It’s been a year since it was signed and the people who are protesting are still saving their revolution,” Mutassim said. “The international community is one of the key factors that can ensure that no one hinders this transition.”
Meanwhile, Hamdok called for political and popular support for reform.
“The state apparatus must be rebuilt, the legacy of [the old regime] must be dismantled and the official service must be modernized and developed to become impartial among citizens, as effective, “he said in a statement on Monday.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
.
