On May 29, the Sovereign Transitional Council announced the lifting in Sudan of the state of emergency, declared last October when the coup was perpetrated by the armed forces.
In a statement issued by the government, the Sudanese military authorities announced that “in order to create an environment conducive to a fruitful and meaningful dialogue that achieves stability during the transition period, the chairman of the Sovereign Transitional Council, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, today issued a decree lifting the state of emergency throughout the country” (https://sudantribune.com/article259525/).
In an effort to revive dialogue with the oppositions, the Sudanese government also released 125 political detainees, with the main aim of encouraging a slowdown in the protest activities systematically conducted in the country’s major cities.
On June 1, however, the three representatives of UNITAMS, the African Union, and IGAD, Volker Perthes, Mohammed El-Hacen Oul-Lebatt, and Ismail Wais, respectively, announced the start of the intra-Sudanese dialogue process next week. Following a meeting with the Sovereign Transitional Council, the three international officials described the context as “constructive,” expressing hope that the talks could facilitate the restoration of a constitutional government capable of “meeting the aspirations of the Sudanese people for a democratic transition” (https://sudantribune.com/article259686/).
On the same day, however, a demonstration was organized in Khartoum in front of the United Nations offices, where hundreds of people criticized Volker Perthes’ role, accusing him of meddling in Sudan’s internal affairs, demanding his immediate resignation and threatening actions of force (https://www.africanews.com/2022/06/01/hundreds-demonstrate-against-the-un-in-sudan/). The main reason for the hostility of some members of the opposition forces to the role of the UN envoy is that related to the dialogue mechanism proposed by Perthes, which includes the armed forces believing them to be an unavoidable interlocutor in this difficult phase of political crisis.
Instead, new protests were also organized on June 3, the anniversary of the 2019 clashes that resulted in the deaths of about 130 demonstrators. Sudanese military authorities, in an attempt to contain the scale of the protest, announced as early as the previous day the closure of bridges over the Nile in the city center, with the exception of those in Al-Halfaya and Soba.
Finally, on June 5, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee arrived in Khartoum and will stay in Sudan for five days in an effort to support the national political dialogue process facilitated by the UN, African Union and IGAD. The U.S. diplomatic representative’s visit is being watched with great interest, and would be part of the Biden administration’s attempt to persuade the military authorities to compromise with opposition forces, avoiding the imposition of sanctions and the ultimate halt of the country’s financial support mechanism. More radical measures against the Sudanese military authorities, on the other hand, are being increasingly demanded by Congress.
