Sudanese Professionals Association Vows To Continue Rallies In December

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) confirmed Monday that rallies across Sudan will continue through December in protest against recent measures by army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

"The people's revolution is continuing until ousting the coupists and their regime, and to establish a full transitional civilian authority," the SPA, a pro-democracy alliance leading protests against the military's takeover, said in a statement.

SPA added that the Sudanese security forces have suppressed a number of rallies in various cities and "used excessive force and tear gas canisters against Monday's rallies and continue to carry out arbitrary arrests" against protesters.

On Monday, Sudanese police dispersed a rally using tear gas near the Presidential Palace in Khartoum which was protesting the recent political deal between Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and al-Burhan.

On Oct. 25, the military dismissed Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency amid accusations between politicians and the military.

Hamdok, however, was reinstated on Nov. 21 under an agreement with al-Burhan, the head of the ruling military council, in a move that aimed to resolve a political crisis that threatened to undermine Sudan's transition to democracy.

Before the military takeover, Sudan was administered by a sovereign council of military and civilian officials which was overseeing the transition period until elections in 2023 as part of a precarious power-sharing pact between the military and the Forces of Freedom and Change coalition.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara -