KHARTOUM, Dec 17, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Sudan has experienced a whirlwind of
change since its popular revolution kicked off two years ago, bringing an end
to the three-decade reign of strongman Omar al-Bashir.
But experts warn the country is now at a critical juncture as tensions have
flared between the military and civilian leaders who share power in a fragile
transitional government.
“A rupture between civilians and the military is a constant risk,” said
Rebecca Hamilton, associate professor at American University’s Washington
College of Law, urging a “surge” of international support for the civilian
side.
Former protest activists like 28-year-old Randa Ahmad are watching events
with fear, but refuse to give up hope.
“Two years after the start of the revolution we are of course
disappointed,” she told AFP.
“We took to the streets because we wanted reform of an economy that was
strangling us, and for the regime’s criminals to face justice. This is still
not the case and I’m suffering as a result.”
But the pace of change has, in some respects, been dizzying since the
youth-led movement started protesting on December 19, 2018 for greater
freedoms and an end to Sudan’s international isolation.
Bashir was ousted by the army in April 2019, and the new authorities have
since put him on trial over the Islamist-backed coup that first brought him
to power.
They have cooperated with the International Criminal Court, which wants to
try him on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity over
the conflict in the western region of Darfur.
The transitional government — established in August 2019, four months
after Bashir was deposed — has struck peace deals with rebel groups.
It has also, under US pressure, agreed in principle to diplomatically
recognise long-time enemy Israel.
And the US on Monday removed Sudan from its list of state sponsors of
terrorism, a designation dating from the times when Bashir hosted Osama Bin
Laden and other Islamist militants.
– ‘Lack of trust’ –
The delisting should help bring badly-needed foreign aid, debt relief and
investment to one of the world’s poorest countries.
But at the same time, an economic crisis with skyrocketing inflation,
exacerbated by the global coronavirus pandemic, is bringing yet more pain to
the country of over 40 million.
The protests that began two years ago, sparked by high bread prices, were
initially centred in the city of Atbara, around 300 kilometres (190 miles)
northeast of Khartoum.
Long a hotbed of labour activism, Atbara is where previous revolts started
in 1964 and 1985, respectively bringing down dictators Ibrahim Abboud and
Jaafar Nimeiri.
Ahmad Khadra, one of the leaders of the Forces for Freedom and Change, the
driving force behind the revolution, bemoaned the shortcomings since 2018.
But he is not giving up hope.
“It’s true the government structure is not complete … and the
establishment of peace with the guerrilla movements in Darfur, South Kordofan
and Blue Nile is slow,” he said.
“But it is moving forward anyway and the economy will improve with the end
of the ban” by Washington.
Khadra said his greatest concern was discord between the cabinet led by
Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and the military, headed by army chief General
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
“There is a lack of real trust which hinders the implementation of the
agreement between them,” he said.
– ‘We will overcome’ –
Hamdok this week criticised the security sector’s “unacceptable” control
over a vast array of companies in gold, rubber, flour and other key sectors.
Burhan, who also chairs the Sovereign Council, Sudan’s highest executive
body, earlier accused the transitional institutions of deepening the people’s
“suffering”.
“A year after its creation, I say that the transitional council has failed
to respond to the aspirations of the people and of the revolution,” the
general charged.
The military, he pledged, would “remain the first force in defending the
people, protect their achievements and work to protect the glorious
revolution”.
“Sudan is at a critical juncture,” Rosemary DiCarlo, under-secretary-
general for political and peace-building affairs, told a recent UN Security
Council briefing, urging stepped-up support for the country.
“It can move forward decisively in its transition. But that process can
still be derailed by the many challenges it faces.”
Eric Reeves, a researcher at the Rift Valley Institute, fears a government
rupture or even a coup is “an increasingly likely outcome”.
The risk would increase early next year, he said, “as we approach the date
on which the civilians on the Sovereign Council take over the chairmanship.
“For the interim, the military will continue to exert or claim more and
more executive power.”
Randa Ahmad, the activist, said she held on to the hope that change for
the better is irreversible.
“Despite everything, I believe in the success of our revolution,” she
said. “We will overcome all the difficulties and we will have a
democratically elected civilian government.”