Sudan has to show more progress and to move back down the democratic path before Washington resumes $700 million in suspended aid, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed on Monday during the telephone calls with Sudanese leaders.
Blinken spoke with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and military leader General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan after the military reinstated Hamdok on Sunday following last month’s coup, pointing that they’ve seen a step forward toward progress with the reinstitution of the Prime Minister but noted the process certainly doesn’t end there.
State Department spokesman Ned Price underscored later in a statement for the press that any decision on the resuming of the financial aid will entirely depend on what happens in the near future.
After the 2019 toppling of dictator Omar al-Bahir Sudan, Sudan has set up a fragile power-sharing arrangement between the military and civilians with elections due in 2024.
According to the agreement that Hamdok – who was removed from power on October 25 – signed with the country’s top generals on Sunday, he will head a technocratic government for a “transitional period” until elections can be held.
Though it remains unclear how much power the civilian government will actually have, Hamdok claimed he’s have the authority to form his own independent government, in complete liberty and without any pressures.
He pointed that the main reason behind his return to the position he was ousted from is the maintain the economic gains from the past two years and the number of reforms Sudan carried under his guidance since becoming prime minister in 2019 that has won the IMF’s approval and helped the country secure much-needed economic aid.
The US was supporting those reforms and the transition period through its $700-million aid package, which it suspended when Hamdok was ousted.
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