The Dominance of Military Power in Sudan: Ramifications of the Coup D’Etat

How the Sudanese military has worked to preserve power within the transitional government including its recent coup d’etat in October 2021, and what changes are needed in this status quo for plausible, concrete and longterm democratic change.

On 25 October 2021, Sudanese military forces, including their representatives within Sudan’s transitional Sovereign Council headed by General Abdel Fattah Burhan, dissolved civilian rule, arrested prominent civilian political figures including Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, and called a state of emergency in what observers called a coup d’etat. The events have been widely condemned internationally, and local pro-democracy protests have been taking place in Sudan since which have been met with military violence. While Hamdok was recently reinstated as Prime Minster, the ever-present influence of the military on Sudanese politics risks the promise of Sudan’s 2019 revolution that overthrew former autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

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