Sudanese demand reforms a year after deal with generals

CAIRO: Sudanese protesters returned to the streets Monday to call for more reforms a year after a power-sharing deal between the pro-democracy movement and the generals.
Sudan is on a fragile path to democracy after a popular uprising led the military to overthrow former President Omar Bashir in April 2019. A military-civilian government now rules the country, with elections possible in late 2022.
The demonstrations were organized by local groups linked to the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, which spearheaded the uprising against Bashir.
The crowds, waving Sudanese flags, gathered outside the Cabinet’s headquarters in Khartoum to hand over a list of demands, including the formation of a legislative body.
Police later dispersed the protesters, and footage circulating online showed demonstrators running away from tear gas. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Organizers said the protesters were furious after Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok sent an aide to meet with them instead of coming out in person.
Protesters also took to the streets in Khartoum’s twin city, Omdurman, and several other cities.
Monday’s protests marked a year after the generals signed a power-sharing agreement with the Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change, a coalition of opposition parties and movements representing the protesters.
The deal created a joint civilian-military “sovereign council” to rule the country until elections and established a Cabinet appointed by the activists. A legislative body was supposed to be formed within three months but has yet to be established, and the civilian leadership has struggled to assert its authority.

“The course of the revolution should be corrected,” activist Awatef Ossman said, calling the military’s presence in the government a “clear and specific obstacle.”
The protesters also called for a conference to decide how to address the country’s daunting economic challenges, the official SUNA news agency reported.
Battered by decades of US sanctions, civil war and mismanagement under Bashir, Sudan suffers from high inflation, which reached over 100 percent in recent months, a foreign debt at close to $60 billion and widespread shortages of essential goods, including fuel, bread and medicine.
Sudan is also struggling to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has infected around 12,500 people and caused more than 800 deaths. Testing is limited, and the country’s health infrastructure is ill-equipped to cope with the pandemic.
The Sudanese economy contracted by 2.5 percent in 2019 and is projected to shrink by 8 percent in 2020, according the International Monetary Fund.