• General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan stopped a political transition from happening 11 months ago.
• The takeover he led ended a deal between the army and civilians to share power.
• Burhan agreed with his deputy that civilians should choose the next prime minister and head of the ruling council.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of Sudan’s ruling council, told media late Thursday that there was no set date for elections, but that the military would not wait forever.

Burhan stopped a political transition from happening 11 months ago when he got rid of a government led by civilians. He had said before that elections would be held in 2023.

The takeover he led ended a deal between the army and civilians to share power. This led to a lot of protests in the streets and a standoff between the military and pro-democracy parties.

After things got even worse, Burhan said in July that the army would stop participating in political talks.

When asked about a date for elections, Burhan said in an interview at the UN General Assembly in New York, “We are waiting. We don’t want to get in the way of this political process.” “Of course, we won’t keep waiting forever,” he said.

After a popular uprising in 2019 got rid of former leader Omar al-Bashir, Burhan is blamed for setting back the country’s move toward democracy and a more open economy.

The military said it took over because civilian political parties were fighting with each other, but the move was harshly criticised by the West, and billions of dollars in aid from other countries was stopped.

When asked about the election date, Burhan said, “If it were up to us, we would have finished the transitional duties by now, but the civilian forces and the regional and international community asked us to stop.”

Burhan said he agreed with what his deputy, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, said recently, that civilians should choose the next prime minister and head of the ruling sovereign council. Dagalo said this was in line with what Burhan had said in the past.

Burhan also said that an agreement to build a Russian base on Sudan’s Red Sea coast was still being talked about and that relations between the two countries were fine.

Recent reports said that Sudanese gold was being sent to Russia, but he said that only a few groups were in charge of exports.

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