Sudan’s military said it will restore deposed prime minister Abdallah Hamdok, who has been under house arrest since a military coup took place in late October, to his position as head of the government. An agreement between the Sudanese military and civilian political parties was struck early Sunday morning. Hamdok will form an independent cabinet of technocrats, said Fadlallah Burma Nasir, head of the Umma Party who attended the talks, Reuters reported.
Sudanese General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who led the military coup, said earlier this month that he is committed to handing over power to a civilian government and to protect the new government during the transition period. Burhan appointed a new governing Sovereign Council replacing the current transitional government.
Meanwhile, at least 40 Sudanese protesters have been killed by security forces during demonstrations against the coup. A teenager shot in the head during mass protests earlier in the week in which 15 protesters were killed died on Saturday, leading Sudanese anti-coup activists to call for mass protests on Sunday. Hundreds of protesters had taken to the streets on Saturday in the capital, Khartoum.
Military and civilian groups in Sudan had been sharing power since the country’s former leader Omar al-Bashir was ousted in 2019 following months of street protests. The country was moving toward civilian rule and a democratic election by the end of 2023. The military was scheduled to hand over leadership of the council to a civilian leader in the coming months though no specific date had been set.