Sudan’s Military Calls on Political Forces to Speed Up Transitional Government Formation

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Sudan's military is calling on the country's political forces to speed up decision-making for the formation of transitional authorities, Vice President of the Sudan Sovereignty Council Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo said.

At the start of this month, the head of Sudan's Sovereignty Council Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan announced the decision to dissolve the council and said that the military was not going to be involved in national dialogue between rival groups.

A source told Sputnik earlier in July that Burhan had dismissed five civilian members of the Sovereignty Council.

Dagalo said on Friday that the military had decided to "provide an opportunity for the revolutionary and national political forces to conduct a dialogue among themselves" and reach an agreement without interference from the military.

The vice president of the Sovereignty Council called on all political forces in Sudan to "accelerate" the process of forming a transitional government.

In October of last year, the Sudanese military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, overthrew the government in a military coup, declaring a state of emergency and establishing a transitional sovereign council under his leadership.

Subsequent protests forced Burhan to sign a pact stipulating the reinstatement of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, releasing all political prisoners, holding elections in July 2023 and handing power to an elected civilian government. The political crisis persisted, however, and Hamdok stepped down on January 2.

Weekly protests against military rule have continued in Sudan, resulting in dozens of deaths.