On Friday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the head of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan, and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, "Hemedti" to withdraw from the political scene.
This came in the quarterly report issued by Guterres on the situation in Sudan and the activities of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS).
Guterres called on Al-Burhan to translate his words into actions and implement the commitments he made with his deputy to withdraw from the political scene on the fourth of last July, to allow the civil forces to agree on forming the government and completing the transitional structures.
Guterres urged all leaders to put national interests first and find a way out of the current political impasse, stressing that the matter is more urgent than ever, and will only be achieved through political dialogue that provides a credible path to a legitimate, civilian-led democratic transition.
Guterres warned against the consequences of continuing the political crisis in Sudan without a solution, and slipping away due to the absence of a political solution and a real democratic transition, adding that "resistance to the military coup and the demand for the return of civilian rule still exist."
suppression of protests
Guterres said that although most of the protests were peaceful, the security forces constantly resorted to the use of live ammunition, tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets and sound bombs, which led to casualties and injuries.
The UN report covers developments in Sudan from May 6 to August 20, 2022.
Al-Burhan announced on the fourth of last July that after the formation of the executive government, the Sovereignty Council will be dissolved and a Supreme Council of the Armed Forces will be formed from the army and the Rapid Support Forces.
Since October 25, Sudan has witnessed protests that reject exceptional measures taken by Al-Burhan, most notably the imposition of a state of emergency and the dissolution of the Sovereignty Council and the Transitional Ministers.
Prior to these measures, Sudan had been living, since August 21, 2019, a transitional period that lasts for 53 months and ends with holding elections in early 2024.
This transitional phase began after the army overthrew President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 following massive popular demonstrations against his regime, which lasted for more than a quarter of a century.