Sudanese General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who led a military coup of the country in October, has lifted the state of emergency that he imposed at the time. The degree lifting the state of emergency was announced on Sunday by the Burhan-appointed Transitional Sovereign Council. The decision to lift the state of emergency was taken in order to “prepare the atmosphere for a fruitful and meaningful dialogue that achieves stability for the transitional period,” according to the council.
The decree comes a week after renewed demonstrations against the coup that left at least one protester dead. Military forces have killed nearly 100 people and injured thousands during attempts to quell protests that have taken place since the coup.
Following the coup, Burhan agreed to reinstate deposed prime minister Abdallah Hamdok, who was placed under house arrest at the start of the coup, and allowed him to form a new technocratic cabinet under the supervision of the military ahead of elections to be held by the end of 2023. Hamdok resigned in January. Burhan has said he will only cede power to those elected in next year’s election. Pro-democracy protesters want a civilian government to hold power until the elections.