Date: Friday, 31 May 2019
Protesters in Sudan are conducting a two-day strike in protest against the country’s ruling military council.
Negotiations between the two groups over a power-sharing deal have stalled with the army accusing protest leaders of not wanting to compromise on a deal. In response, protesters are staging a two-day strike in a bid to place pressure on the military to hand over power to a civilian government.
The strike left hundreds of airline passengers stranded at Khartoum airport on Tuesday morning after opposition group Alliance for Freedom and Change called upon Sudanese pilots to participate in the strike. Domestic flights were suspended as a result of the strike, which protest leaders said were designed to deliver a message to the world that people in Sudan are demanding real change under civilian rule.
Sudan’s political future hangs in the balance after the military ousted former president Omar al-Bashir in April, following months of anti-government protest calling for his resignation.
However, the opposition groups leading those protests are demanding a civilian government is established to guide the country towards its first election post-Bashir. The military has promised to establish a transitional government but protest leaders want to guarantee the military leaders don’t award themselves excessive powers by installing its own members.