Sudanese al-Burhan says military will leave politics after 2023 votes | Military news

The top general says the Sudanese military will not be involved in politics after the civilian government is elected in 2023.

Sudanese military chief says the army will leave politics after the elections scheduled for 2023.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan gave assurances in an interview with international news agencies on Saturday.

The general took over the military in late October, jeopardizing Sudan’s transition to civilian-led democracy, but it is an agreement reached on 21 November. reset Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdo will lead a technocratic cabinet until the July 2023 elections.

“When a government is elected, I don’t think the army, the armed forces or any security force will be involved in politics. That’s what we agreed on, and that’s a natural situation, “al-Burhan told Reuters.

The coup ended cooperation with civilian political parties after the ouster of Omar al-Bashir, following the arrest of dozens of key officials and repression against protesters.

Neighborhood resistance committees and political parties have called for the military to step out of politics immediately discard any commitments, including an agreement with Hamdok. At least 44 people have been killed in protests, many by security forces, according to doctors.

“Investigations into the victims of the protests have begun to identify who did this … and to punish the perpetrators,” al-Burhan said, and security forces have only dispersed non-peaceful protests.

Al-Bashir has been jailed for corruption and other charges. Along with several other Sudanese suspects, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is also investigating Darfur for alleged war crimes.

The disbanded civilian government agreed to hand over al-Bashir, but the military has not yet agreed.

“We have agreements with the International Criminal Court for the appearance [of suspects] before the judiciary or before the court, ”al-Burhan said. “We continued our conversation with the court to find out how the victims did the right thing.”

After the coup, many civil bureaucrats were released or transferred and replaced with veterans of the al-Bashir era in the decisions Hamdok wanted. vice versa.

Al-Burhan said on Saturday that the former al-Bashir ruling party would have no role in the transition.

“We will work together to ensure that the National Congress Party is not part of the transition,” he said.

Sudan is in the midst of a deep economic crisis, although it began to notice the arrival of international economic aid before a large part of the coup was canceled.

Al-Burhan said he hoped to return support after the formation of the civilian government, noting that the country had not reversed the reforms made in the last two years by reinstating subsidies or returning them to print money.

“The international community, including the African Union, is watching what will happen in the coming days,” he told AFP.

“I think there are positive indicators that things will come back [to how they were] soon. The formation of a civilian government will put things right. ”

Although Western nations and the African Union have spoken out against the coup, diplomats say Russia, which wants to develop a naval base on the Sudanese Red Sea coast, is working on relations with military leaders.

Al-Burhan told Reuters that the basic agreement had not yet been finalized.

“It simply came to our notice then [with Russia] it will be strengthened by the signing of this agreement, ”he said. “Consultations continue and we are working on an agreement until it is acceptable and legal.”