Facts.. Abdullah Hamdok, the resigned Prime Minister of Sudan
Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok announced his resignation on Sunday evening, six weeks after he was reinstated as part of a political agreement with the army.
Who is Hamdok?
Before becoming prime minister, Hamdok worked for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank, and as a special advisor to the Trade and Development Bank in Ethiopia.
Hamdok studied economics at the universities of Khartoum and Manchester.
- The Sovereignty Council chose him as prime minister in August 2019. The council is the governing body that was formed from civilians and military personnel to oversee the democratic transition after the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir.
- Hamdok said upon assuming his position that one of his priorities is to solve the deep economic crisis and the stifling burden of public debt and to spread peace throughout the country after long civil wars.
Hamdok soon began talks with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to discuss restructuring Sudan's debt.
- He also started talks with the United States to remove Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, a description that has been the reason for isolating Sudan from the global financial system since 1993. Sudan was removed from the list in 2020.
During the period in which Hamdok headed the government, the IMF accepted the inclusion of Sudan in the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative based on the country’s commitment to macroeconomic reforms.
This led to Sudan finally qualifying for debt forgiveness and access to new funds.
- Among the main economic reforms that Hamdok worked to implement was the lifting of fuel subsidies, which cost the state several billion dollars annually, and the devaluation and floating of the Sudanese currency.
He also sought to impose government control over companies owned by the security forces.
- A few weeks before his dismissal, Hamdok acknowledged the difficulties arising from the reforms, but expressed his hope that their positive impact would appear quickly.
He said that the Sudanese people paid a high price for the reforms and that their aspirations must be achieved.
Hamdok is a supporter of the transition to civilian rule in Sudan.
With the increase in tension between the army and civilians in the joint administration during September, Hamdok presented a road map to get out of the crisis and said that he is not a neutral or mediator in the conflict, but rather that his clear and consistent position is the complete bias of the civil democratic transition.
His position won him popular support.
During the demonstrations against the coup, the demonstrators raised pictures of Hamdok and hung banners with his pictures.
After signing an agreement to return as prime minister, a move opposed by many protesters and political figures who had previously supported him, Hamdok said he did so to stop the bloodshed after dozens of civilians were killed during the demonstrations.
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