Thousands of Sudanese protest near parliament for civilian rule

By Mohammed Amin

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) – Thousands of Sudanese protesters rallied near the national parliament on Monday, demanding democracy and civilian rule.

The protesters, who came from different parts of the country and gathered in front of the parliament in Omdurman, the twin city of the capital Khartoum, raised anti-army banners and chanted anti-coup slogans.

“We have come today in front of the parliament to demand democracy and reject the military coup. We have been protesting for the past four months and will keep protesting until our demands are met,” Osman Mahjob, a protester, told Anadolu Agency.

The pro-democracy protests organized by the Sudanese resistance committees have also spread to different parts of the country, including River Nile, Northern, Red Sea, North Kordofan, Al Jazirah, and Sennar states.

Meanwhile, an African Union (AU) delegation headed by AU Commission head Musa Faki began a three-day visit to Sudan on Saturday to find a political solution to the current crisis, the Sudanese Sovereign Council said in a statement.

The Sovereign Council’s Deputy Chairman Mohamed Hamdan Daglo briefed the visiting delegation on the council’s vision to resolve the crisis, including a national dialogue, formation of a technocrat government, amendments to the political declaration, and holding of the general elections by the end of the transitional period, the statement added.

The AU delegation called for political consensus to restore stability in the country.

Sudan has been in turmoil since October 2021, when the Sudanese military dismissed Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency.

Prior to the military takeover, the country was governed by a sovereign council of military and civilian officials tasked with overseeing the transition period until elections in 2023.

According to doctors’ groups, around 80 people have been killed since the military coup in Sudan.