3.1.2021(Khartoum) Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has resigned amid political deadlock and widespread protests following a military coup that derailed the country’s fragile transition to democracy.
Hamdok’s decision, announced in a televised address late on Sunday, comes six weeks after he returned to his post in a deal with the coup leaders he argued could save Sudan’s political transition.
But the pro-democracy movement rejected that agreement, and Hamdok failed to name a new government as thousands of people continued to protest against the military’s power grab.
In his resignation speech, Hamdok said a roundtable discussion is needed to agree on a new “national charter” and to “draw a roadmap” to complete Sudan’s transition to democracy.
“I decided to give back the responsibility and announce my resignation as prime minister, and give a chance to another man or woman of this noble country to … help it pass through what’s left of the transitional period to a civilian democratic country,” Hamdok said.
The announcement throws Sudan’s political future even deeper into uncertainty, three years after an uprising that led to the overthrow of long-time leader Omar al-Bashir.
An economist and former United Nations official widely respected by the international community, Hamdok became prime minister under a power-sharing agreement that promised multi-party elections in 2023.
But the military-civilian ties became frayed by the army’s refusal to cede power, and on October 25, Hamdok was removed and placed under house arrest by the military. He was reinstated on November 21 in a deal that called for an independent technocratic cabinet under military oversight. But the pro-democracy movement denounced that agreement, insisting that power be handed over to a fully civilian government.