US, Europe warn Sudan's military as democratic transition unravels

With Sudan's fragile transition to democracy all but dead, the United States and Europe have issued a stark warning to the Sudanese military.

With Sudan's fragile transition to democracy derailed, the United States and Europe have issued a stark warning to the Sudanese military against appointing a new government "without the involvement of a broad range of civilian stakeholders."

"Unilateral action to appoint a new Prime Minister and Cabinet would undermine those institutions' credibility and risks plunging the nation into conflict," Norway, the U.K., the U.S. and the European Union said in a joint statement Tuesday. "In the absence of progress, we would look to accelerate efforts to hold those actors impeding the democratic process accountable."

Sudan has been seen as a powerful example of democratic hope after a 2019 revolution forced the military's overthrow of the Islamist regime of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, an alleged war criminal and former military officer who seized power of the North African nation in 1989. The popular uprising was marked by iconic images of protesters, especially women, going viral on social media and garnering support from celebrities around the world. After al-Bashir was ousted, Sudanese military and civilian leaders came together to form a transitional government and agreed on a 39-month process to return to democratic, civilian rule.

That progress came to a grinding halt on Oct. 25, 2021, when the military took power, dissolved the transitional government and expelled the civilian members. Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was appointed by the transitional government in 2019, was placed under house arrest along with a number of other senior politicians. Mass protests as well as pressure from the international community, including the U.S. government withholding $700 million in economic aid, ushered in a deal that reinstated Hamdok as prime minister on Nov. 21, 2021.