Sudan’s Protesters Expect Civilian Rule: Economist

Sudanese protestors have railed against internal turnover in government power, as in Awad Ibn Auf, former vice president and defense chief who briefly replaced the recently ousted Omar al-Bashir following his official resignation. Like his predecessor, Auf has long been the subject of international scrutiny for complicity in the genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region underway since 2003. “Faced with a storm of popular outrage, the short-lived autocrat stepped down on April 12th,” replaced by another military official, former general Abdel-Fattah Burhan. Burhan, who commended the revolution, is reportedly “more popular with rank-and-file soldiers, many of whom are sympathetic to the demonstrators.” He promised a shift in power to civilian rule in two years or less. While some changes have been effected in recent weeks, such as the replacement of intelligence chief Salah Abdallah Gosh and the arrests of members from al-Bashir’s National Congress Party, “protestors remain dissatisfied.” The Sudanese Professionals’ Association continues to demand the dismantling of what they call the “deep state” infrastructure that allowed for the Bashir autocracy to rule unchecked in the first place. Some are anxious about the appointment of figures like Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the new deputy leader of the military council, who as head of a paramilitary unit, “was involved in the mass rape and butchery of civilians” while fighting rebels in Darfur. Moreover, the junta’s top officials retain close ties to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Protestors remain wary over recent developments. – YaleGlobal

Sudan’s Protesters Expect Civilian Rule: Economist

Sudanese protestors continue to demand shift from military to civilian rule, seeking leader free of controversy related to Darfur genocide or corruption
Monday, June 3, 2019

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