Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdo resigns amid political stalemate Military news

Hamdok has resigned less than two months after signing a political deal with the military following the October 25 coup.

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdo has resigned amid a political stalemate following a military coup that prevented the country’s fragile transition to democracy.

In a televised speech on Sunday night, Hamdo, who signed a political agreement with the military in November, said a roundtable was needed to reach a new agreement.

Hamdo, a former United Nations official who was seen as the civilian face of the Sudanese transitional government, was reinstated in November under international pressure in an agreement calling for an independent technocratic cabinet headed by him.

The agreement, however, was rejected by the pro-democracy movement and stressed that power must be handed over to a fully civilian government responsible for leading the transition.

Hamdok’s resignation came after Sudanese security forces violently dispersed pro-democracy protesters against the October 25 military coup. killing at least two people, said a medical team.

Thousands took to the streets to denounce military ownership in Khartoum and other cities across the country, and a subsequent deal that reinstated the prime minister but sidelined the pro-democracy movement.

The Sudanese Central Medical Commission (CCSD), part of the pro-democracy movement, said on Sunday that one of the dead had been “violently” beaten in the head while taking part in a protest march in Khartoum.

The second was shot in the chest in the twin city of Omdurman in Khartoum, the group said, adding that dozens of protesters were injured.

Sunday’s death toll has risen to at least 56 among the number of protesters killed in the coup, according to a medical team.

The October military overthrew the fragile planned transition to democratic rule in April 2019 following a popular uprising that forced former military leader Omar al-Bashir and his government to overthrow the military.