Sudan’s ousted premier says reinstating his government key to resolving crisis

Sudan’s ousted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said Monday that reinstating his government, which was dissolved last month in a military coup, could help pave the way to resolving his country’s crisis.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Information, Hamdok, who remains under house arrest at his residence in the capital Khartoum, met with the Special Envoys to Sudan and South Sudan from the UK, Norway and the US, also known as the Troika.

During the meeting, he insisted on the legitimacy of his government and the transitional institutions, adding “the release of the Cabinet ministers and full reinstatement of the government could pave the way to a solution,” the ministry said.

Hamdok asserted that he will not be a party to any arrangements in accordance with the “coup decisions issued on Oct. 25,” stressing that “the situation must be restored to what it was on Oct 24.”

He thanked the Troika countries for their support of the Sudanese people and their recognition of the legitimacy of the transitional government.

The ambassadors told Hamdok that the US Special Representative for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, will arrive in Khartoum on Nov. 2 to continue efforts to resolve the crisis.

Hamdok and a number of ministers in his civilian government were detained by the Sudanese military on Oct. 25 amid rising tensions between the military and civilian components of the transitional authority.

Shortly after detaining Hamdok, the head of Sudan’s ruling military council, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, declared a state of emergency and dissolved the transitional Sovereign Council and government, triggering mass protests across the country.

Before the military takeover, Sudan was administered by a sovereign council of military and civilian officials which was overseeing the transition period until elections slated for 2023 as part of a precarious power-sharing pact between the military and the Forces for Freedom and Change coalition.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat