The United States urged Sudanese leaders to ensure civilian rule continues in the country following the resignation of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok on Sunday, at the end of a day of protests that left dead and wounded.
And the US State Department said – in the first external reaction to Hamdok’s resignation – that “Sudanese leaders must put aside differences, reach consensus and ensure the continuation of civilian rule.”
In a statement, the ministry stressed the need to appoint a prime minister and a government in line with the constitutional document to achieve the people’s goals of freedom, peace and justice.
She said that Washington continues to stand by the Sudanese people and calls for an end to violence against the demonstrators.
Between welcome and warning
locally, The Secretary-General in charge of the opposition People’s Congress Party in Sudan, Muhammad Badr Al-Din, told Al Jazeera that Abdullah Hamdok’s resignation was an expected matter and that it would further exacerbate the situation.
Badr El-Din stressed that the way out of the crisis is a comprehensive dialogue that does not exclude anyone.
For his part, Mona Arko Minawi – one of the most prominent leaders of the Forces for Freedom and Change (the National Accord Group) – saw that Hamdok’s resignation was a manifestation of a political and social crisis that the political forces did not understand, as he put it.
The National Umma Party-designate, Fadlallah Barama Nasser, praised the resigned Prime Minister Hamdok’s effort “to bring Sudan to safety.”
As for the leader of the Sudanese Communist Party, Siddiq Youssef, he considered that the resignation of the Prime Minister was long overdue, and he expected that Hamdok’s resignation would tighten the noose on the military component internally and externally.
Hamdok said – in a speech broadcast on Sudanese television late on Sunday evening – that he took the decision to resign after his recent efforts and meetings with various political segments and components failed to reach a political consensus to avoid the country sliding towards what he described as chaos and instability.
The army commander, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, had dismissed and arrested Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok and members of his government on October 25, but he returned him to his position without his government following international and local pressures under a political agreement signed last November 21. Hamdok was supposed to form a new government, but he was unable to do so.
Hours before the prime minister announced his resignation, the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and other cities witnessed confrontations between demonstrators and police forces that left various deaths and injuries.
The Sudan Doctors Committee confirmed that 3 protesters were killed in Omdurman and dozens were injured, as the Sudanese forces used tear gas to disperse protesters who were on their way to the presidential palace in Khartoum.