This unaltered story [1] was originally published on OpenDemocracy.org.
License [2]: Creative Commons 4.0 - Attributions/No Derivities/Int'l.
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Sudan’s revolution enters its second phase: disrupting the state

By:   []

Date: 2022-01 

A few hours after the military coup in Sudan on 25 October 2021, its leader, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, appeared on television to announce the dissolution of the Sovereign Council, the governmental body composed of military and civilian representatives, which had been formed in the wake of the 2018 revolution. In a typical justification for coups in the country, Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency, describing the takeover as a “corrective step”.

The 2018 revolution was the third in Sudan’s modern history. They have all followed a pattern of ousting a dictator, followed by a transitional period, elections, and then a new military coup that once again interrupts the path towards democratic rule.

This repetitive cycle reveals the real extent of the country’s crisis and the tasks awaiting today’s revolutionaries. The 52 years of military rule show that revolution is the easiest part of the long process of political and social change. Rebuilding the state and breaking this vicious cycle requires learning from the country’s history. Are today’s revolutionaries doing that?

The first phase

The spark for the 2018 revolution occurred amidst an economic crisis which had its roots in the 2011 independence of South Sudan and the loss of its oil. Revenues from this oil had been the main driver of Sudan’s economic recovery during the years that followed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005 between Omar al-Bashir’s government in Khartoum and the southern Sudanese rebel movement, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). This agreement ended years of civil conflict.

The peak of the economic crisis came when, on 6 December, the government lifted wheat subsidies. In response, schoolchildren took to the streets in Maiurno, a city in the state of Sinnar, some 300 kilometres south of Khartoum, the nation’s capital. The protests spread to cities across the country, including Khartoum, becoming a true mass uprising. In April 2019, al-Bashir was deposed, and replaced by General Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf, the army’s choice to replace the fallen dictator, but he was in turn deposed within a day.

In August 2019, the Forces of Freedom and Change, the alliance that led the political process, reached a power-sharing agreement with the Military Council, leading to the formation of the Sovereign Council. The political parties justified the deal as the only way to stabilise the country and stop the bloodshed. But for many on the streets, it was no more than a return of power to the military.

Revolutionaries not reformists

For two years following the signing of the power-sharing deal and before the military coup of October, the civilian-appointed prime minister, Abdallah Hamdok, promoted the prescriptions of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank while ignoring any demands related to real democratic transition, justice for the revolution’s martyrs, or social and economic rights.
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[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/north-africa-west-asia/sudans-revolution-enters-its-second-phase-disrupting-the-state/
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