The National Consensus Alliance, one of the forces of the ruling coalition in Sudan, called on Monday to participate in the demonstrations next Thursday to transfer power to civilians, while a government advisor called for “building a unified army.”
The call of the coalition, which includes left-wing forces and the second-largest coalition in the coalition, coincides with an open sit-in in Khartoum, which was launched, on Saturday, and calls on its supporters to dissolve the government, which is an option supported by the military component and political forces in the country.
The coalition stated, according to the official Sudanese News Agency, that “the masses will go out on October 21 (Thursday) to emphasize the protection of the democratic transition and the need to transfer power to civilians.”
On Thursday, the Association of Professionals called on the leader of the protest movement, in a statement, to go out in processions on October 21 to demand civilian rule.
For his part, Yasser Arman, political advisor to the Prime Minister, Abdullah Hamdok, confirmed that “October 21 marks the day of the December revolution that was launched against the ousted President Omar al-Bashir (…) and restores wealth to its peak.”
In an article he published on his Facebook page, Arman called for building a single army, and said, “Let the army be one and professional, with no partner or competitor.”
And on Sunday, the forces of the “Declaration of Freedom and Change” (the ruling coalition in Sudan), called for building a single Sudanese armed forces.
Weeks ago, tension escalated between the military and civilian components of the transitional authority, due to criticisms by military leaders of the political forces, against the backdrop of thwarting a coup attempt on September 21.
On March 7, 2020, the head of the Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, announced a project to restructure the army and the “rapid support” forces (affiliated with the army).
Restructuring the regular forces is one of the tasks of a transitional period that began on August 21, 2019, and will last for 53 months, ending with holding elections in early 2024, during which power is shared by the army, civil forces, and armed movements that signed an agreement with Khartoum to bring peace.
