Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Khartoum, Sudan’s capital on Saturday demanding the dissolution of the transitional government, saying it had failed them economically and politically.
The development comes amid divisions in the country’s Sudan’s political scene steering the country through a rocky transition following the April 2019 ouster of President Omar al-Bashir after mass protests against his rule.
Saturday’s demonstrations were organised by a splinter faction of the Forces for Freedom and Change, a civilian alliance that spearheaded protests against Bashir.
A 50-year-old protester, Abboud Ahmed, said, “We need a military government, the current government has failed to bring us justice and equality.”
AFP reports that the protesters carried banners calling for the “dissolution of the government”, while others chanted “one army, one people” and “the army will bring us bread.”
“We are marching in a peaceful protest and we want a military government,” a lady, Enaam Mohamed in central Khartoum said.
On Friday, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok warned that the transition is facing “the worst and most dangerous” crisis.
Support for the transitional government has waned in recent months mainly following a tough raft of IMF-backed economic reforms.
It slashed subsidies on petrol and diesel and brought in a managed currency float, measures deemed by ordinary Sudanese as excessively harsh.
The government has also been beset by protests in east Sudan where demonstrators have blocked trade through a crucial Red Sea port since mid-September.
On September 21, the government said it thwarted a coup attempt which it blamed on military officials and civilians linked to Bashir’s regime.
