Sudan’s prime minister resigns amid continued unrest

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok resigned on Sunday, less than two months after reaching a deal with the military to be reinstated into power and as clashes between pro-democracy demonstrators and security forces continue in the country. 

Hamdok was ousted in a military coup in October and placed under house arrest. A month later, a deal was brokered for Hamdok to return to power. The October coup disrupted the country’s transition away from authoritarian rule under Omar al-Bashir, who was in power for 30 years before being removed in 2019.

However, the deal was highly criticized by pro-democracy demonstrators, with tens of thousands of Sudanese protesting the deal. Critics said the deal was insufficient and did not do enough do satisfy demands for a civilian-led government.

In a televised statement, Hamdok said he was resigning to give someone else “a chance” at leading Sudan, the BBC reported.

“I decided to give back the responsibility and announce my resignation as prime minister, and give a chance to another man or woman of this noble country to … help it pass through what’s left of the transitional period to a civilian democratic country,” Hamdok said.

More than 50 people have been killed in the Sudanese pro-democracy demonstrations since October.

As Al Jazeera reported, Hamdok’s resignation came just hours after two more demonstrators in Khartoum were killed by Sudanese security forces. One protester was reportedly shot in the chest, while the other suffered a “severe head wound.”