SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: New York Times - Concerns of a Coup Stir in Sudan as Capital Braces for a Virus Lockdown
Declan Walsh cites disputes between Sudan’s military and civilian leaders over measures to counter the spread of coronavirus in Khartoum to underscore the “fragility” of Sudan’s democratic transition.
Walsh notes the confrontation between Prime Minister Hamdok and Khartoum governor Lt. Gen Ahmed Abdoun Hamad, after the latter defied orders to cancel Friday prayers.
Walsh reports that senior Sudanese officials contacted western officials and local journalists to warn that they feared the military would use the coronavirus lockdown to seize power. However, a senior US official said Sudan’s “jittery” civilian leaders had “so frequently warned of a possible coup in Khartoum that they had become akin to the boy who cried wolf.”
Civilian officials have also said that coronavirus has put them at a disadvantage since they now could not mobilise supporters lest they risk spreading the virus.