Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who is under house arrest following a military coup on Monday, says that he will never “willingly” stand down, according to sources close to the prime minister.
Hamdok’s remarks come a day after hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated across the country in opposition to the October 25 takeover, and as international condemnation of the military’s actions grows.
Hamdok, who has been detained since the coup, can only be met in the presence of a military escort, said the sources, who spoke to CNN exclusively on Sunday. However, the military is allowing international and local mediators to meet with him, as pressure from the United States and other international actors ratchets up for his release.
Sources close to the prime minister and the mediation talks laid out four steps that need to be taken to reinstate order in the country and to resume negotiations on Sunday, saying that it must start with Hamdok’s release and a return to the “status quo.”
Since the 2019 Sudan uprising that led to the toppling of President Omar al-Bashir’s three-decade rule, Sudan had been ruled by a Sovereign Council and the transitional government, a shaky alliance of military and civilian groups.
Monday’s coup, led by Sudan’s top general, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, followed months of rising tensions in the country. Burhan was supposed to relinquish control of the council to a civilian leader in the next few weeks. Instead, he dissolved the council, saying that he would hold elections in July 2023 and hand over power to an “independent and fair representative government” then.
Hamdok is now calling for an overhaul of the political process, leading to a re-structuring of the sovereign council, for him to have full authority and independence in forming a cabinet of politically independent technocrats of his own choosing and to broaden political participation for greater representation, the source said.
“Without this acknowledgment and without the commitment to return to how things were, the Prime Minister will not negotiate. He refuses to stand down willingly as Prime Minister,” the source said.
The source also said that the military’s stance is making negotiation difficult.
Opposition grows
Source: CNN
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