Two months after he was reinstated as prime minister of Sudan, Abdalla Hamdok resigned on Sunday in a televised speech, saying a fresh round of talks was needed with the military about a stalled 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,” he said.
The resignation of the prime minister, a technocrat and former UN banker, comes after mass street protests against a military coup last October and a deteriorating economy. Security forces violently dispersed crowds calling for an end to military rule, killing at least two, according to a doctors’ group. At least 56 people have been killed since the October coup and several hundred since waves of protests erupted in late-2018.
In 2019, months of street demonstrations, initially led by women and professionals, prompted the military to oust longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir who had been in power for 30 years. A new set of military leaders led by Abdel Fattah Burhan, who is now de facto head of state, set up a hybrid military-civilian council charged with moving the country towards democracy.
Sudan’s economy has since plunged into economic crisis, exacerbated by Covid and the need for deep structural reforms after decades of misrule and profligate spending on the military.
As the transitional council lost popularity, the generals moved against Hamdok last October, placing him under house arrest. They reinstated him in November following international pressure, particularly from the US, which has linked aid and debt forgiveness with progress towards democracy.
The military says it is committed to holding democratic elections in 2023, but progress towards that goal has been slow and Hamdok’s position in the government has become increasingly untenable.
Once a hero of street protesters who saw him as a civilian check on military power, Hamdok’s popularity has waned amid signs that he wields little real authority. Those measures he has managed to implement, including removing a costly fuel subsidy, have been unpopular because of their impact on the poor.
Two days ago, Cameron Hudson, a Sudan expert at the Atlantic Council in Washington, argued on twitter that Hamdok could not “continue to serve as prime minister and legitimise a military government that kills and terrorises innocent civilians. There is no option left but resignation,” he wrote.