Sudan’s PM Resigns: We’re Sliding towards Disaster

By Staff, Agencies

Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok announced his resignation amid political impasse and large-scale protests, just two months after being restored in the post as part of a political deal with military rulers of the restive African country.

Hamdok announced the decision in a televised address late on Sunday, stressing that a roundtable discussion was needed to agree on a new “national charter” and to “draw a road map” to complete the country’s transition to democracy.

“In view of the fragmentation of the political forces and conflicts between the [military and civilian] components of the transition... despite everything that has been done to reach a consensus... it has not happened,” he remarked in his TV address.  

Hamdok further warned that Sudan was “crossing a dangerous turning point that threatens its whole survival”, adding that he had “tried his best to stop the country from sliding towards disaster."

The development came hours after massive protest rallies were staged by anti-coup demonstrations in capital Khartoum and other major cities across Sudan, leaving at least two protesters dead and many others injured in clashes with security forces.

The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors on Sunday announced that new fatalities had taken the overall death toll to 56 in widespread protests since a military coup on October 25, which ousted Hamdok and placed him under house arrest. He was later reinstated on November 1.