During the last few years, Sudan has been ruled by an uneasy alliance between the military and civilian groups, especially since 2019, but recently the military completely seized control of the country and declared a state of emergency, they actively dethroned the power-sharing sovereign council by temporarily detaining Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok alongside his wife and many government ministers and officials, so whether there were any hopes that the transition of power from former president Omar al-Bashir to the next in line to lead the country would have been smooth now there is none left.
Following the seventeen years of civil war between northern Khartoum forces and southern Anya-Nya rebels, in 1989 Omar al-Bashir led the coup against the at-the-time Prime Minister Sadiq al-Madhi, then he became president of Sudan as soon as the Revolutionary Command Council was dissolved therefore restoring civilian rule in the area.
After years of unrest between the south and the north parts of the country in 2005, a peace agreement between the two parties was reached and it included the guarantee of independence for a southern Sudan within six years, this decision came along with the ICC verdict that issued an arrest warrant for Bashir on charges of genocide and war crimes referring to the military campaign in Darfur between 2003 and 2008, still, Bashir managed to stay in power and only in recent times he declared a year-long state of emergency in response to months of protests nationwide that called for his resignations, which were only one of the reasons for the recent coup d’état, Bashir was then sentenced to years in a correction facility only to be later handed to the ICC.
Who’s believed to be behind the military takeover is Sudan’s top general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, he served as inspector general of the Sudanese armed forces and was its third most senior general, he was supposed to relinquish control of the council to a civilian leader in the next few weeks but instead, he dissolved it with a televised statement that explained how he would have hold elections in July 2023 and hand its position over only to an “independent and fair representative government”.
The military takeover threatens to derail Sudan’s troubled path to democracy, just as the country had begun to resurface after decades of autocratic rule, global isolation, and crippling economic sanctions, in just a few weeks, the military declared it will rule on its own, and it is unclear whether it will make good on its promise for a free election or not, Burhan stated “We only want to correct the path of the transitional phase,”, regardless of whether his intentions are good, while he stands as the savior of his country, the former president is currently held in prison as he was sentenced to two years for corruption and illegitimate possession of foreign currency in 2019.
On top of that, a worsening economic crisis sent the currency plunging and created a frequent shortage of food and fuel, and because of that, the transitional government has implemented harsh and rapid reforms monitored by the IMF which led inflation to rise to historic highs of more than 400%.
When it comes to relations with the neighbors, Sudan is in a volatile region, bordering the Red Sea, the Sahel, and the Horn of Africa, and most of the countries nearby, including Ethiopia, Chad, and South Sudan have been affected by political upheavals and conflict since late last year, an example of how external conflict can affect the internal sphere of a country is the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, which has pushed tens of thousands of refugees into eastern Sudan and caused military tensions in disputed agricultural lands along the border with the said country.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the coup and called for the release of the prime minister and other officials, adding that the UN would continue to stand with the people of Sudan, while the United Kingdom called the coup an “unacceptable betrayal of the Sudanese people.”, the European Union as well stands strongly against the coup and stressed the serious consequences for the EU’s engagement with Sudan, including its financial support, unless the situation is reversed as soon as possible, in response to the international reaction, Sudan’s Foreign Minister Mariam al-Sadiq called for further action from the international community.
For what concerns the White House, the Biden administration was “deeply alarmed” by the recent events unfolding in Sudan, as the US had high hopes for Sudan’s transition to democracy, as a matter of fact, Sudan was removed from the state sponsor of terror list last year and, in June, it received a $50 billion debt relief package from the current American administration, in spite of that, as tensions have escalated in the recent weeks, President Biden has expressed his support for the civilian-led transition to democracy in Sudan, and emphasized that any attempt by military actors to interfere it would have consequences on planned US assistance.
In addition, over the weekend, the US sent its top regional envoy, to Khartoum to discuss the democratic transition with Prime Minister Hamdok, but just after his visit, the Sudanese military launched its takeover, as a consequence the White House condemned the coup in the following days and paused $700 million in emergency assistance to Sudan intended to support the democratic transition, which is considered critical aid for a country dealing with a growing economic crisis.
References:
The military has taken over in Sudan, available at:
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/25/africa/sudan-coup-explained-intl-cmd/index.html
The Sudan coup, available at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59045020
Military dissolves civilian government, available at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59033142
Sudan’s military has seized power and arrested the Prime Minister, available at:
What is happening in Sudan, available at:
https://www.shorenewsnetwork.com/2021/10/25/factbox-what-is-happening/
Sudan Authorities close bridges ahead of mass anti-coup protests, available at:
UN chief to Sudan army, available at:
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/un-chief-to-sudan-army-reverse-coup-take-heed-of-protests-1.5645830
By Gaia Gambaro : The European Institute for International Law and International Relations.
