By Leading Sudanese politician and former prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi died from a coronavirus infection 3 weeks once being hospitalised within the United Arab Emirates, in line with family sources and a celebration statement too soon Thursday.
Mahdi, 84, was Sudan’s last democratically elective prime minister and was overthrown in 1989 within the military coup that brought former president Omar al-Bashir to power.
The moderate Muslim Ummah Party was one among the most important opposition parties underneath Bashir, associated Mahdi remained an influential figure even once Bashir was toppled in 1989.
Last month, al-Mahdi’s family aforesaid he had tested positive for COVID-19, and was transferred to the UAE for treatment a couple of days later following a short medical aid in Sudan.
In a statement, the Muslim Ummah Party aforesaid Mahdi would be buried on Friday morning within the town of Omdurman in Sudan.
Mahdi had came back to Sudan in Gregorian calendar month 2018, following a year-long self-exile, even as protests over worsening economic conditions and Bashir’s rule gathered steam. His female offspring Mariam Sadiq al-Mahdi, deputy leader of the Muslim Ummah Party, was among those detained throughout the demonstrations.
While a successor to the party head has not nevertheless been proclaimed, she has been the foremost visible party leader in political negotiations and therefore the media in recent years.
Opposition parties were weakened greatly underneath Bashir’s three-decade regime, and area unit shove for power with the military throughout Sudan’s transition, creating the Muslim Ummah Party’s continuing unity crucial to maintaining the balance of power.
After the military forced Bashir out from power, Mahdi pushed for a transfer to civilian rule, warning in interviews with Reuters of the risks of a counter-coup and vocation for the powerful, paramilitary speedy Support Forces (RSF) to be integrated.
