The Vice-President of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant-General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Hemedti, said in an exclusive interview with BBC Arabic, that the army is sincere in its commitment to get out of the political scene, as long as the goal is to achieve stability and prosperity for Sudan.
In a question about whether the army leaders “regret” the step they call “correcting a course”, and what others call a “coup”, Hemedti said: “Unfortunately, we did not succeed in the change, for reasons that I will not talk about now. When you think about change. “You have a goal, a vision for change. But unfortunately the planned thing did not happen, and it failed. And now we have gone for the worse.”
The head of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, had overthrown the Hamdok government last October, in order to prevent the country from sliding into chaos, and to correct the course, Al-Burhan announced.
In a question about whether Hemeti was considering running for the presidency at any time, he said that he had no political ambition, but added that if a government came with patriotic people who would maintain Sudan’s security and stability, then “we will certainly not enter into this issue of candidacy, but if We saw Sudan collapse, we will be present, and we are part of the Sudanese people, and what applies to others applies to us.”
Daglo said, “I have no political ambition, but reality forced me to be present, and this is a fact that I must say. If people come and fill this void, and they are up to the responsibility, we will certainly help them so that our country does not collapse.”
Hemedti stressed that he has no objection to integrating the Rapid Intervention Forces, which he commands, into the Sudanese army, in light of a comprehensive security reform.
Hemedti added that the military component is serious about the issue of withdrawing from political work and devote themselves to security tasks in compliance with the desire of the people, he said.
Hemedti called on the political forces to agree on an independent government of competencies representing all forces in the country to get out of the crisis, and said that he would support anyone who wants to progress to lead the country.
photo released, Getty Images
Hemedti’s speech came after months of demonstrations that swept the capital, Khartoum, and other cities, during which demonstrators demanded the army to restore the civilian government.
The head of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, announced last July that he was ready to step down if the rival factions were able to agree on a civilian government, but protesters described his offer as a hoax.
Al-Burhan announced last month the withdrawal of the armed forces from the political dialogue, which is being mediated internationally.
“The army will not participate in political work,” he said in a statement broadcast on state television, pointing out “the need for political forces not to distance themselves from the army.”
Al-Burhan pledged to dissolve the Sovereignty Council and form a Supreme Council of the Armed Forces after the formation of the government.
photo released, Getty Images
Al-Burhan had overthrown the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok through a military coup in late October last year, after what was considered a necessary step in order to prevent the country’s slide into chaos.
Medical and human rights groups say dozens of protesters were shot dead by security forces when they participated in the anti-coup protests.
The security authorities deny the use of live bullets against the demonstrators, and accuse those they called intruders of not committing to peace and injuring dozens of security men.
Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok resigned from his position after a widespread popular rejection of the political agreement he signed with the army chief, Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Al-Burhan’s coup led to massive rallies that lasted for more than eight months calling on the army to leave politics.
The coup also prompted foreign governments to reduce their aid to Sudan, deepening a chronic economic crisis that the country is coexisting with.
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