The Sudanese opposition has announced a “millions march” on June 30 to yet again demand that the ruling military council immediately transfer power over to civilian authorities. At the same time, both the army and the political movements are disclaiming all responsibility for potential victims in advance, The Saudi Al Arabiya TV channel reported on Saturday.
Ahead of the mass protests in Khartoum and its suburbs, the military council and the biggest opposition Alliance for Freedom and Change engaged in finger-pointing. The opposition forces said that their march will be “exclusively peaceful in nature” and called on the law-enforcement agencies to protect the protesters, while putting the blame for possible victims on the army. In turn, the military council said that it did not mind peaceful protests, but in case people die, the Alliance is fully to blame for that. Chairman of the Transitional Military Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said on Saturday that army is on the people’s side and is ready to immediately transfer power in the country to elected representatives.
According to the Sudanese Baj News outlet, the security forces ordered shop owners to close their stores in the center of the capital on Sunday and stay home that day.
At the same time, Al Arabiya TV channel reported that military forces stormed the building, where the opposition was holding a press conference on the eve of the “millions march”, and tried to derail it by barring many reporters from getting inside.
On April 11, the Sudanese army removed then-President Omar al-Bashir, who had been leading the country for thirty years, from office amid the protests that had mired the country for months and difficult economic situation in Sudan. The army took power by establishing a Transitional Military Council, dissolving the Parliament and suspending the Constitution. The opposition forces called to create a civil government as soon as possible and launched a strike to oppose the military council. The sides had been trying to come to a mutually acceptable decision for two months, but failed to reach an agreement.
On June 3, the Sudanese police and police tactical units dispersed the protesters in the square facing the main headquarters of the Armed Forces in Khartoum. As a result, ten people died and the tensions exacerbated. Following these events, the opposition refused to continue the talks with the army and announced that all contacts with the military were suspended. The good offices of Ethiopia and, later, the African Union are failing to produce any success. The coordinated plan of reaching settlement in Sudan, which is based on establishing a formula of power transfer and setting a transitional period, has not improved the situation.