AFRICA/SUDAN - Bishops: "We are returning to a military era"

Thursday, 28 October 2021 human rights politics coup military

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El Obeid (Agenzia Fides) - "We are returning to a military era in Sudan, to war instead of peace", complained Mgr. Yunan Tombe Trille, Bishop of El Obeid, chairman of the President of the Bishops' Conference of Sudan and South Sudan, to Fides in the aftermath of the coup, which set the country's clock back two and a half years, when the dictator Omar al-Bashir was still in power after more than three decades. "I believe that the Muslim Brotherhood is behind the action of the armed forces; you could see them in the Palace of the Republic days before the coup. Their request to the ruling politician was clear: step aside and hand everything over to the military. In the meantime, a state of emergency was declared and the Supreme Council, government and institutional offices were dissolved".
Sudan remains in a limbo four days after the coup. The army chief, Abdel Fattah al Burhan, declared: "the experience of the transitional government to defend the Revolution is over". The speech divided public opinion, creating more opposition on the one hand and a wait-and-see attitude on the other. The tones were moderate and, as a Fides source who asked for anonymity said, "even convincing". The head of government who called on people to take to the streets and “recapture the democracy that has been stolen from us” has has been shrouded in complete silence for days, some claim that he is being prevented from speaking and that he is being forced to accept the new course. The outlook is not rosy, said the bishop. "I believe that the military will seize all power and and mock the world by holding elections (which coup leaders have announced for 2023, ed) which will be yet another farce and which will legitimize an illegitimate power, exactly as happened with governments in the past. People in all likelihood will continue to take to the streets, but in this situation, I predict there will be a lot of suffering". "The civil platform - informs the source of Fides - announces massive demonstrations for next Saturday. Tensions and uncertainty are at a very high level". (LA) (Agenzia Fides, 28/10/2021)